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Mtv's official challenge podcast is back for another season. Season 39, battle for a new champion. Yes. 24 contenders will compete to win their first championship. They know the battle, but not the victory. So every week after the episode airs, come hang with us as we break down all the challenges and eliminations, and of course, get the inside scoop on all of the drama. Listen to MTV's official Challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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You're listening to Comedy Central.

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From the most trusted journalist at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news.

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This is The Daily Show with your host, Jon Stewart. Boom. Hi, everybody. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to The Daily Show. I am your host, Jon Stewart. This is number three, the third episode. This is my third episode. The first two, very controversial. A lot of discourse around it, a lot of carping back and forth, a lot of anger, a lot of commentary. Tonight, I'm done with it. Tonight is perhaps an Amoos A trifle. Something light. Tonight, we discuss Israel Palestine. Are we? Who wrote this? Well, I legally have to read what's in the prompter, so. Here we go. We're going to take a look in our new and probably never-ending segment. Yes. Somehow the audience knew, but tonight we discuss Israel Palestine.

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Any discussion of Israel Palestine is not meant to endorse or justify all the actions on your side.

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Mentions of Hamas that fail to condemn Hamas do not mean we don't condemn Hamas. Do not listen to this segment if you're predisposed to anti-Semiteism or Islamophobia.

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Common side effects of discussing the release start: depression, anxiety, infections of the paraneum and craving Hummus.

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Well, folks, this is an awful situation. We're coming off on five months of a brutal bombing campaign brought on by a horrific massacre and hostage taking. We seem no closer to ending anything but the reins of a couple of Ivy League presidents. Well, this weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, finally laid out his plan for peace. Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for complete demilitarization of Gaza, as well as Israel taking over security and controlling entry and exit points to Gaza. So your peace plan is a siege, a military siege. You really think a military solution ends this cycle? Well, victory is within reach, and you can't have victory until you eliminate Hamas. But... Okay. But your plan to eliminate Hamas by destroying all of Gaza, doesn't that just make more Hamases? Is that the plural of Hamas? Hamasai? I mean, it's an idea. Palestinian liberation is an idea. Unless you have a bomb that kills ideas. Do you have a bomb that kills ideas? I mean, how long would it even take to bomb this shit out of an idea? The intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months, weeks away from completion.

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Oh, dear God. If you insist on this plan, if you think that ends Hamas, I believe we in the United States have a banner you can use. It's a little wind-damaged, but equally delusional. Look, the United States is Israel's closest ally, Israel's big brother and the fraternity of nations, Israel's work emergency emergency contact. Maybe it's time for the US to give Israel some tough moral love.

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This is shameful. There has to be accountability for these war crimes. No targeting civilians in war. Stop the war crimes and the atrocities and end the war today.

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It could happen right now. Right now.

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Thank you. These atrocities must be I'm sorry, I'm being told the administration was talking about Russia bombing Ukraine. I apologize. Also a war crime. But I'm sure they're giving equally stern advice to Israel.

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The Biden administration is urging Israel to be much more careful, to be more cautious. How Israel does this matters.

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Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians.

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We want to see the government of Israel take steps to minimize civilian harm.

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Be more surgical and more precise Be more careful. Hey, Israel. Take a ton of gas.

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Could you please be more careful with your bombing? It's good advice. But really, couldn't the United States have told Israel that when we gave them all the bombs, they're our bombs. This is like your Coke dealer coming in with an eight ball and going, Don't stay up all night. Sleep is very important. You got to sleep. You don't want to... And breakfast is an important part of the day. Look, the Israeli position doesn't seem so tenable. Perhaps I can find some diplomatic leeway in the Hamas position.

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Israel is a country that has no place on our land.

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We must remove that country.

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Does that mean the violation of Israel? Yes, of course.

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I cannot find Diplomatic leeway in the Hamas position. Well, this is when we need the world, the civilized world of nations, to come together and stop this madness.

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A resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has just failed to pass.

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A UN Security Council draft resolution to allow aid delivery has been vetoed.

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Russia and China use their a veto against an American resolution, condemning Hamas. The immediate ceasefire in Gaza has failed. Western nations voted against it. It was delayed four times this week.

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Draft resolution has not been adopted.

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Why do you even have Give us back our building. Why? Why do you... We could use that. We have a housing crisis. Give us back our building. This is not right. What is the United Nations even? What are you, just a support system for a diverse and pleasing food court? What are you?

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That cannot It will not be the UN's food court, by the way.

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That is clearly just a mall in Long Island. Doesn't anyone care about the suffering of all these civilians? What about a good neighbor? Saudi Arabia.

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The Palestinian cause is the Arab world's most important cause.

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I want to see really a good life for the Palestinians. Thank you. Saudi Arabia. Thank you. And while Saudi Arabia does not accept Palestinian refugees, and Egypt doesn't either, for that matter, the Saud are the richest country in the region, and they've given... This can't be right. On average, about $200 million a year to the Palestinians. Jesus, are you kidding me? The Saudis have given just as much money to Phil Mickelson. Is that true? I assume to promote the equally important cause of the Mickelsonian people. So Israel, the United States, the United Nations, the Arab Nations, no one seems to be incentivized to stop the suffering of the innocent people in this region. Now, I didn't want to bring this up, but there is another player. Small religious startup out of Bethlehem. I think it might have began as a carpenter's union, but has gotten big. Do they have a plan for the Middle East? There will be the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus Christ is going to sweep over that battlefield and to anihilate that army of 200 million people. The blood will flow to the bridal of a horse. That's the plan for the Prince of Peace?

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Is that so? I am not an equestrian expert, but if the blood goes all the way to the bridal, that's an enormous amount of blood, no? Unless Are we talking about the mini horses? Because that's still... It's a lot of blood, but more manageable and durable. Look, I think we have to get real here. The status quo cycle of provocation and retribution is predicated on some idea that one of these groups is going to go away, and they are not. If we want a safe and free Israel and a safe and free Palestine, we have to recognize that reality. I know that there is a twisted and much contested history in the region that has brought us to this point, but we are at this point, and anything we do from here has to look forward. So tonight, lucky you. I'm going to do that with not one, not two, but a three. Solutions for Peace. Number one. Along the shores of Pleasant Lake in Maine, 95 Israeli and Palestinian teams are trading rockets for rackets. The goal of Seeds of Peace is to open these young minds.

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Okay, that one hasn't been scaled up yet.

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And may take longer than we have unless we just bring the whole region to Maine. How fast can we make 14 million rackets? But that's just my opening offer. That was just one piece plan, people. Don't abandon me That's what we're doing. We're doing that. Number two. Let's just ask God. It's his house. He's the one who started all this. Just ask God. He can tell us who is right. Is it the Jews? Is it the Muslims? Is it the Zoroastrians? If it's the Scientologist, a lot of us are going to have egg on our faces. But given God's lack of communication over this past, let's say, millennia. All right. Here's another one. And heaven forbid, I actually think this last one could work. Starting now, no preconditions, no earned trust, no partners for peace. Israel stops bombing. Hamas releases the hostages. The Arab countries who claim Palestine as their top priority come in and form a demilitarized zone between Israel and a free Palestinian state. The Saudis, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, they all form like a NATO arrangement guaranteeing security for both sides. Obviously, they won't call it NATO. It's the Middle East Treaty Organization.

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It's #MeToo. Let's tweet it out. #metoo. Tonight, people, Let's get this region me-tued. Now, obviously, I have not worked out the exact verbiage, but anything is better than the cluster-fuck cycle we have now. Because honestly, what is the alternative? The Trump of God sounds and the rapture happens. We're gone. In the twinkling of an eye, we're just simply not here. Poof indeed, sir. Poof indeed. When we come back, Mertaza Hussain and Yair Rosenberg will be joining me on the program and fixing everything I said. Don't go away.

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Mtv's official Challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is back, and so are we. I'm Devon Simone. And I'm Devon Rogers. Now, you all know we had so much fun covering the Challenge USA one together that we thought, Why not do it again? So we are joining forces to dive into this brand new season. Season 39, battle for a new champion. Yes. Yes. 24 contenders will compete to win their first championship. They know the battle, but not the victory. Thank God. I am ready for a new champion. A new one, okay? Give us some fresh faces, people. Girl, I couldn't agree more. So every week after the episode airs, come hang with us as we break down all the challenges and eliminations, and of course, get the inside scoop on all the drama. And we got all the tea, okay? We will be joined by the cast members themselves every week, you all. Listen to MTV's official Challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, welcome back to The Other Show.

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Let's continue our conversation about Israel and Palestine. Please welcome Senior writer at The Intercept, Mertaza Hussain, and staff writer at The Atlantic, Yair Rosenberg. Please welcome them. I told you guys it was going to get very good. I told you guys it was going to get very good. You know what Very rarely do you get a standing ovation for the guests, but clearly they think, Muslim and Jew sitting next to each other? How can that be? But thank you both for being here. You're both, obviously, you're American writers that write a lot about the Middle East. The peace plan, the Stuart plan, as I call it, the Me Too plan, and Murtaza will start with you. How unrealistic is that? It's similar to a 2002 Arab League resolution. Why? Why can't this happen?

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Well, it's not a bad idea. On paper-We're going to cut there.

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Thank you so much, Murtaza. I so appreciate that.

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Well, I think the problem is, I write about US foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, and I feel that the consistent theme here is that when we give blank checks to countries which are clients or partners, we enable their worst tendencies or their worst behaviors. In this case, you mentioned the Arab Peace Plan. In 2002, the Arab League offered Israel full political, economic, diplomatic normalization. In exchange for, the main crux of it is creating a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, which is in line with international law and so forth.

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And the repatriation plan, which-Which can be negotiated, the details of it, but that was the crux of it.

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They've reiterated this plan many, many times, including recently. It's not just the Arab world, the broader Muslim world as well, too. I interviewed the Pakistani ambassador to the UN a few weeks ago. He told me that Pakistan, Indonesia, other large population Muslim countries would be willing to normalize with Israel, but they do not want the Palestinians to be thrown under the bus. There needs to be a two-state solution, in their view, creating a state in those lines. Without that, they cannot be. But Israeli government has never responded to this It's not even rejected. It's refused to engage. I think the main reason is because they have the US as a guarantee. Whatever they do, they'll have a superpower backing. Many people in Israel want the West Bank. The Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu has bragged that he's stopped the Palestinian state from coming into existence. Because they have this backing, they don't need to compromise with their neighbors or engage with their neighbors.

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Do you think the US backing of that enables this reticence?

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I think the US putting itself in this position, not just this position, many other situations where it acts as blank check writer for its clients. It enables the situation.

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We got to make money somehow. Without selling weapons, what are we going to fall back on? Wheat? Come on. You probably have a slightly different interpretation of that peace plan and also what we laid out here.

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Well, I think that, again, the idea is actually a pretty good one, which is that you put some third party in between these two parties. That's what seems like has to. That would then be the referee. The problem is that, as you showed in your monolog, the Arab States are willing to talk a big game. United States, and sometimes, depending on the administration, will also talk a big game. But no one actually wants to put their own troops down there. Can you imagine America under democratic presidents who are retrenching from the Middle East, trying to get out of the Forever Wars, or Donald Trump, who wants to turn America into some isolationist country, get us out of, stops helping Ukraine, they're not going to stick Americans there. The Arab countries, no different. They'll give a token amount of money and then try to make it go away. That's, I think, the fundamental flaw here. I will say that if you took away US backing and said, Israelis, we're going to put some other people on your border, particularly, say, Arab states, and they're going to be the guaranteeors of your security, the Israelis wouldn't say, Well, I guess we don't have the Americans.

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We're just going to pack it up. Because this is a country- Nobody's going anywhere. Yeah. Also, this is a country that's full of people who fled other countries, including those Arab countries, because they were persecuted, killed, dispossessed. Half of Israelis are now Middle Eastern But two diasporas don't make a right.

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Of course not.

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But they won't trust it. But let me push back on both of these for just one second.

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This just pushes back on both. We get into this litigation of, well, the Palestinians and the Arab state, they propose something very reasonable to the Israelis, but the Israelis wouldn't do it. The Israelis say, well, we don't have a partner for peace, and we propose something very reasonable, but they didn't even do it. Doesn't it appear that no party is in incentivized to fix this at the peril and detriment to the Palestinian people. Here's what I mean by that. Egypt has its border closed to the Palestinians. These are autocratic states in the Arab world. They all view the creation of Israel as a humiliation. If that's where they start from, it's a very easy issue to deflect attention from your own dictatorship, to own the so-called Arab street with anger towards Israel. But the Saud, they all do business together. Aren't they disincentivized to fix this? Netanyahu, whenever he gets in political trouble. Suddenly, there's a war. So who is incentivized to actually fix this? And isn't the people who really suffer from all of it just the Palestinians who get no regard from any group? No real support?

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I think that was the case for some time, but I think that things have changed in the sense that the Arab countries are very eager to get this off their plate, actually. That's why they had this Arab peace initiative and keep reiterating it, because they no longer want to have a conflict with Israel. It's not in their interest. They'd like to move past it, but they cannot do so in a way which ignores the Palestinians. I think that the idea of the Arabian Accord, for instance, was, let's just sidestep this issue and make deals with the Emiratis and the Saudis and so forth. I was in Saudi Arabia recently, and I was talking to a broad range of people. I think the The idea that the Saudis will make a deal with Israel without a two-state solution or meaningful pathway to one or significant conditions on that subject, it's very unrealistic because- No, that's my point, is the two-state solution.

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But if nobody is there to just guarantee everybody has preconditions for everything. Netanyahu, I need a partner. If you don't meet these certain conditions of no violence, I won't negotiate with you. Well, America occupied Iraq, and there was violence there. The entire time. I mean, imagine if we had said a precondition that there'd be no Iraqi government unless this violence would end. It seems like nobody's actually being honest or genuine in the region about their aims.

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I would put it a little differently, which is to say that the people who are running the show- That's why you're a scholar and I'm a comedian. We'll see when it's done. The people who are running the show for some time, which is how we arrive at this disastrous destination, are these absolutist actors who they They might say that we'll negotiate, and here's the condition, and here's whatever. They might say that to some people. But in practice, we see from many years of Netanyahu governance, every single document and statement, as you showed, of people from Hamas. These are people who want everything. They see half of the people in the land as the problem. The question is how you- The absolutists. Yeah, the absolutists. Then there are lots of people who are also pragmatists. That's how we had a peace process that failed. But there were genuine majorities in the polls at the time among Israelis and Palestinians behind negotiations for two states. There always are those people. They might be a minority, they might be a majority at a given point in time. During a war right now, they're a minority. But there's always those people who say, This is not going to be solved with weapons.

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We need to find a way to live together.

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But we're not supporting those people. How could it ever be solved if the United States and Israel, the two, let's face it, most hated entities in that part of the world, are the ones responsible for the peacekeeping effort? It doesn't make any sense if the Arabs don't step in, if the Arab nation is there. And couldn't you Can you say that this was a great bulwark against the strength of Iran? Couldn't you convince UAE and Saudi that the only way to temper Tehran is by forming this alliance and recognizing them?

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Well, it was interesting. You mentioned that the US stance in the region that's very unpopular, I think it's related to this issue. This is the core issue of why the US has not had normal relations with the Arab world and Muslim world, generally. It's a very bitter and symbolic issue for a lot of people.

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We do have normal relations. We We sell more weapons to the Saudis than we do to the Israelis.

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On a public level or only with dictators, for instance. The reason is democracy is very skeptical in the Arab world. We're afraid that regimes which are mad at us will come to power. But I think the main issue, I think from a US perspective, primarily, is that we're involved in this very bitter conflict. We're not taking it seriously and solving it. We take a very one-side approach, I think, and we do that supposedly in Israel's interest. But I think what it does in reality is prolong the conflict indefinitely to everyone's detriment. I'd come to the position that we It should either be fair in this conflict and adjudicate it in a way which is fair and results in a just solution, both sides accept, or we should leave. We should leave because impacting us in very, very negative ways, militarily, economically, strategically. We have other problems in the world to deal with as well, too. I believe that if the US were to pull what I'd say is a blank check from Israel, it would incentivize Israel to compromise more. Because ultimately, Israel has to live in the Middle East. That's where the country is.

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That's where the people are going to be. They're neighbors who are willing to compromise with us.

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We could move them Maine. Maine is wide open. They could play tennis. But I hear your point. But to that, I do think that the idea that this is all about the United States, that we are the actor that drives all that, I think plays into a myth of United States control. I think if we've learned anything in these last 20 to 30 years of the United States is we've got big influence, but we sure as hell don't have control. I'm not so sure that by the US changing its policy in certain ways, that that solves this. What's your thought on that?

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Well, I mean, John, that's a very controversial thing to say that the United States is not the main character of the entire planet.

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Then I'm going to say you said it and I didn't say it. That was him. Okay.

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This is not live, so maybe we'll cut that. Yes, exactly. But that is clearly the case. There is this sense that a lot of people have that the United States and the present of the United States in particular, have the ability to wave a magic wand and solve these things. If they could, there are multiple American presidents who would have done so. They would have changed the policies, and they would have tried, and there were always people in different factions in the State Department, and they tried different things. You go to Eisenhower and Nixon, they all had plans. They pressured Israel in ways that presidents today don't. But there's a reason why we moved in different directions because they thought maybe If we are more involved. One thing I want to say to this, though, is that a lot of people want to see a solution in the Middle East, but they also want to see the US get out of the Middle East. Those two things are in contradiction. People are ultimately going to have to make choices about what the US does and doesn't do. But you can have influence and not be so involved in the region.

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I do think if there is, to your point, if the Arab States form a more broader alliance with Israel in a genuine way and that the United States wouldn't feel maybe that it had to be on the line there. Listen, I'm no fan of any of it. I think this cycle of violence over the 75 years is destroying the dreams of two peoples, not just the Palestinians. I think it's destroying the dream of the Israeli people as well. I think that what we're doing now, clearly, and what we've been doing, is a cycle that we have to pull out of. I imagine that's the thing that ultimately has to happen. We're talking to Mertaza Hussain and Yair Rosenberg, and we talked a little bit about some of the things that could help break the cycle of violence in the Middle East. The act of the two of you sitting here having this conversation is almost rebellious or revolutionary in the current moment. How do you counsel Americans in this moment to be able to not lose so many Facebook friends when it comes to all this? Is there any advice that you guys have?

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I'll take that, Bruce.

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The backstory of the two of us is that we've been having these conversations for something like 10 years. The further backstory is that we reached out to each other on Twitter because we both realized that we shared a lot in common about how we approach the world, but we had very different opinions on issues like these. That's how we became friends some 10 years ago, is it? That's one of them. We've been doing this in kosher restaurants because for Suni Muslims, many of them, kosher meat is halal. I will take murder to a kosher restaurant, introduce him to it, and then we'll have conversations like these. John is just interloping. We decided to let him come.

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I'll take you up the check.

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Exactly. There we go. What it is, is we refuse to allow ourselves or our communities to be held hostage message to a ruinous conflict thousands of miles away that we may never be able to fully resolve or fix. But we can have an impact about how we treat each other here. The other thing I would say is that we both are both journalists, and one of the things that motivates us is our pursuit of truth and what is true. We share that even when we disagree, it's because we came to different conceptions and we really believe the other is honest.

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Yeah, it's well said. Well, ultimately, as Yair mentioned, we're journalists and we seek out people's perspectives who are different from you, who see different the world, see the world from a different view, and then that's how you learn about the world a little bit. I think I have to say that it's easier for us, too, though, because we're not Israeli and not Palestinian, ultimately. We're American and we view it that way. Both of us know people who've family members have been killed recently, many dozens in some cases, in Gaza recently. And that emotional component, you can compartmentalize it when you're not so directly involved. So we look at it from an American perspective, two different sides of this issue in some sense, but we're able to have that conversation, which is destructive. What I would say, I could accept any Palestinian view or any Israeli view when they're so intimately involved in it. But I can never respect a bloodthirsty American. That's the only person I can not respect.

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So I understand.

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It is. I have said this for many years. One of the biggest issues I have with American foreign policy is how cavalier it is about the destruction that so many of our policies have had internationally. Even something as simple as we had a big issue here with burn pits with Iraqi war veterans and Afghan war veterans. We talked a lot about getting them the help they need here. But the thing nobody ever talked about was what those did to the environment in Iraq and Afghanistan. We left. I think our policies oftentimes are cavalier to the destruction that occurs.

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I've report from Iraq. I met so many people whose family members were killed by the US military or by the violence that took place in that time. Also, elevated rates of cancer and other indirect causes of the war. It's forgotten, actually. Those people, their lives go on. But the impact that we had in a very cavalier moment, to us, the news cycle moves on. But those memories stay and it impacts our ability to operate there or how we're viewed there in the future. It's something which may be very pessimistic about US foreign policy in the sense that I know many at the end of the Cold War, there's an optimistic view we can make the world a better place. I think that's true in some cases, I'm a lot more hesitant to get the US deeply involved because there's a very negative track record.

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I think there's a mythology around the Marshall plan. It's after World War II. We were in war with Germany and Japan, and we threw a bunch of money at it, and now we're the best of friends, and they buy our cars, and we buy their cars, and it's all lovely, and all it takes is a little bit of money and some American know-how, and we can turn the world into allies. I think we might have learned the wrong message from all that.

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I'd also say from reporting around the world myself, when you to people, this can have the wrong impact. If you have a great mythology about yourself and how you fix all the world's problems, then some people will say, How can the Americans not fix this problem?They're like, No.Wait, they believe us? People believe us. Son of a. I will say to them, Actually, there are a tremendous number of incredibly well-meaning people serving our country, trying to do this stuff. It's just really hard. But there's a certain story that we've told, and sometimes people really expect us to make good on it. There are impossible promises that we can't keep.

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How do you guys negotiate negotiate this pragmatic view within your own families? Because I know within, there is no... I can't get five Jews to agree on anything at dinner. How do you negotiate that within your own families?

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I think there's the personality type that tries to really hear where people are coming from and speak to-How do you get one of those in your family? Sheer dumb luck, or your dad is a rabbi, in my case. That's what you do as the rabbi, right? You're trying to understand where everyone in the audience is coming from. Your synagogue can be diverse, and there are people with different political and ideological perspectives. How do you tell them the truth and stay true to that while also saying, speaking to each of them? It's a type of personality. You see there are different kinds of political leaders and spiritual leaders who manage to do this. There are others who feel like, what's the hardest, sharpest, best viral slogan I can use on Twitter to own the other side? By the way, when we were younger, I'll speak for you, we were like I was much more hot-headed when I was younger. Really?

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When we first met, you guys seemed the opposite of hot-headed.

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We aged a lot.

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Honestly, I feel like I want this as my screen saver. This is so calming to me that I What about you? Same. Let me ask you guys this thing, because that brings up an interesting point. What mitigated the rationalness? Was it just youth? What got you guys less visceral?

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I think getting older is one aspect of it. But then also reading a lot of books, trying to see other people's records, travel, that has a big impact on keeping an open mind, trying to treat others consistently as you want to be treated, keeping that golden rule in mind as well, too. I'll tell you, you mentioned family. It's interesting because I've had a conversation with family. I have family very spread out over the world. And certain experiences can be very resonant with people. I had an uncle who lives in Pakistan, and he was very critical of the US war in Afghanistan. He thought that it was very, very bad. He said, I think he visited Kabul, and that's what put this in his He said, Look, there's nothing is being built here. It's all falling apart. They didn't make anything good from their presence here. It's just very exploitative. Then he actually visited New York one day, and he visited the subway system. He's like, Oh, now I get it, actually. It's not the end of purpose. They just can't do it, actually. That's hilarious.

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I mean, this is where we're getting to the jokes portion, which is hard in this topic. Very hard. People ask me, How do I conceptualize. Like Hamas has, what is the New York Times? It's 350 to 450 miles of tunnels underneath Gaza. I was like, to think of it this way, it would cost New York City 648 quadrillion dollars over 268 years to build that much tunnel. It's just a really large number.

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They would just raise the price to a $1.50 a ride. That's problem solved. $2 a ride. I appreciate you both so much for coming on and having the conversation and really just admire both of you, not just for having this conversation, but your journalism as well. It's really fantastic stuff. So thank you both. Mertaga Hussain. Mertaga Hussain. Mertaga Hussain. Thank you.

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Mtv's official Challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is back, and so are we. I'm Devon Simone. And I'm Devon Rogers. Now, you all know we had so much fun covering the Challenge USA one together that we thought, Why not do it again? So we We are joining forces to dive into this brand new season. Season 39, battle for a new champion. Yes. Yes. 24 contenders will compete to win their first championship. They know the battle, but not the victory. Thank God. I I'm ready for a new champion, a new one. Okay, give us some fresh faces, people. Girl, I couldn't agree more. So every week after the episode airs, come hang with us as we break down all the challenges and eliminations, and of course, get the inside scoop on all the drama. And we We got all the tea, okay? We will be joined by the cast members themselves every week, you all. Listen to MTV's official Challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, everybody. That's our show for tonight.

[00:36:48]

Before we go, we're going to check in with your host for the rest of this week, Michael Gosta. Michael, so nice to see you. The people are clamoring for you. What are the stories you're going to be covering this week? Well, we're going to be covering the big political event in this country, John. President Biden is taking a trip to the border on the same day that Donald Trump is taking a trip to the border. The question, John, is which border So tune in this week to find out. Thanks, everybody. It's me, Michael. You don't need to talk for him. I'm pretty sure it's the US-Mexico border, so I don't think that I'm going to... Dude, A spoiler alert.

[00:37:31]

A spoiler.

[00:37:34]

I'm sorry. It's just... Michael Katz, everybody. I'm sorry.

[00:37:42]

There we are.

[00:37:45]

Anyway, so I know we're only three episodes into this, but if you'll indulge me, I wanted to tell you a little bit of a story. About 12 years ago, maybe 13 years ago, my kids wanted to raise a little money for an animal shelter down in New York City. It's incredible. Animal Haven is the name of it. They do incredible work. It's a no kill shelter for cats and dogs. Yeah, they're amazing. They were little. I was six, seven years old. We baked a couple of cupcakes and rolled on down to Animal Haven and set up a little table right outside and put the cupcakes out. As a little extra incentive, they brought out this one-ish-year-old, Brindle Pitbull, who hit my car in Brooklyn and lost his right leg. I thought I'd get further. It was a perfect idea. They put the dog in my lap, and we left that day feeling really good that we'd help this great organization. We also left with this one-ish-year-old, Brindle Pitbull. We called him Tipper. In a world of good boys, he was the best. He's He used to come to the Daily Show every day. He was part of the O.

[00:39:33]

G. Daily Show dog crew. Parker, Qualee, Dipper, Riott, they were the O. G.s in the office. Dipper would wait. We'd come and take the show, and Dipper would wait for me to be done. He met actors and authors and presidents and kings. He did what the Taliban could not do, which is put a scare into Malala Yousafzai. Oh, dear, you can talk.

[00:40:11]

It's not Malala.

[00:40:12]

It's not Malala. It's fine. Dipper passed away yesterday. Dipper passed away yesterday. Oh. He was ready. He was tired. I wasn't. And the family, we were all together. Thank goodness, we were all with him. But boy, my wish for you is one day you find that dog, that one dog. It just is the best. Explore more shows from The Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11:10 central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount+. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.

[00:41:18]

Mtv's official challenge podcast is back for another season. Season 39, battle for a new champion. Yes. 24 contenders will compete to win their first championship. They know the battle, but not the victory. So every week after the episode airs, come hang with us as we break down all the challenges and eliminations, and of course, get the inside scoop on all of the drama. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.