And what is even worse, is that the Israelis still think that what they are doing is ok.

Not only has it been disastrous for Israel, it has also been disastrous for the US's image in the World!

“For every Palestinian that is murdered, you’ve created a thousand more freedom fighters.” Bassam Youssef

I am a 69 year old gentile New Yorker who had always tacitly supported the state of Israel. While suspecting all was not right with Israeli treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank under Netanyahu’s leadership, I stayed silent and stated ignorant, fearing that if I really educated myself, I could not support Israel or remain silent.

I'm baffled when people say things like " Israel's current conduct is awful" as though there was a day where Palestinians didn't suffer at their hands. I really don't understand the .... I don't know what U call it. Amnesia? Wilful ignorance? Gaslighting? It's weird.

I can guarantee you if this was any European nation then this would never have been allowed to happen.

What if Hamas emerged because of the ill treatment of Palestinians and fights for the Palestinian cause? Would you condemn those who fight for their freedom?

I wonder whats the reason for the IDF to decimate the GAZA cemetery if they are really fighting HAMAS?

When will James be able to call the IDF terrorists and condem them as harshly as Hamas?

I totally agree that "war" is the wrong word for what is happening.

"The public debate about the Gaza attack, engages in the absurd pretense that it is Israel not the Palestinians who's security and dignity is being threatened, this blind defense of Israeli brutality towards the Palestinians is a betrayal of the memory of all those killed in other genocides in other times." 👉 Chris Hedges

Nobody is denying Israel right to exist. Even the Palestinians agree with this. Each day it becomes all more and more clear that Israel believes they are the only one that may exist

The United States takes full responsibility for this absolute atrocity.

I have no connections to either side. However I grew up hearing UN resolution after UN resolution condemning Israel and being protected by the US.

Study after study, poll after poll, consistently supports the argument that the more one learns about the Israel-Palestine situation, the more likely one is to sympathise with Palestinians. A major reason why younger people tend to support Palestine is they are also the group who carries out the most research on the topic.

It’s not just about the three hostages waving a white flag shot dead by Israeli soldiers. How is it possible that nobody is also talking about the IDF helicopter gunships and tanks that also shot and killed many Israelis on October 7th as reported by Israeli media channels. How can they keep this quiet and for how long? This is not a war as this is clearly a case of gen-0cide

Why does Israel have a right to exist and defend itself when it expelled Palestinians from their land and their homes? Why do they have a right to self determination on that land? Just an honest question

To add to my comment below, accidentally posted before I could finish: Over the last 20 years, while suspecting Israeli treatment of the Palestinians was wrong, I consciously avoided learning the facts so I could remain blessedly ignorant and not offend my Israel-supporting friends. Here in New York it has always been impossible to criticize Israel. Israel’s unbelievably horrendous and inhumane response to the Hamas attack of October 7 has changed all that. Thanks to you and others, particularly Jewish activists, I have been educating myself about Israeli longstanding policy and treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza, as well as the IDF’s current operations in Gaza, which is so obviously not reported on in the American mainstream media. If I am just one example, I think Israel’s cruel war on the civilian population of Gaza has had the opposite effect wished for by Netanyahu and Israeli leaders. Previously sympathetic friends of Israel are turning our backs on a nation that can so callously destroy an entire people.

If you’re not invested, you might think that hamas brought this on themselves’ by attacking Israel. But that would assume this conflict started on the 7th!

The opinion is the US will not agree to a ceasefire as long as Israel continues their siege of Gaza and the Palestinians. The excuse is to eradicate Hamas. There was no Hamas in 1948 when 700,000? Palestinians were kicked out from Palestine and were not allowed to return.

Hamas is nowhere near being "defeated". How does Israel believe it can defeat an opponent it only makes stronger with every disregard for human life it displays through its military action?

Leaving out everything happening in the WEST BANK because there’s no Hamas 😂

Did the UN take into account the voices of the Palestinians at the time to declare the birth of the state of Israel and to implement such a decision? Why is it so difficult to do the same thing and implement once and for all a Palestinian state? No veto allowed.

James O,Brien You are ignoring the fact that The war is between an occupying colonial forces and occupied territories

The Western nations were queuing up to support Netanyahu despite knowing that the Israeli Government was an extreme right wing regime. It now turns out that the massacres attributed to Hamas were actually committed by IDF soldiers operating the Hannibal directive. This has been confirmed within Israel and their own Colonel who attended the scene after 7th October.

This is one of the few issues where I genuinely have a problem being objective. For context, I’m an American Democrat, zero religious affiliation. That said, my experience began as a little boy catching a glimpse of the news walking into our kitchen with my Mom in the room and asking her why that little boy was throwing rocks at a tank rumbling by and she told me “well kiddo, that tank is from another country and it’s driving through his home”. And I remember vividly thinking “yeah, okay, I’d be throwing rocks at it too” And that’s been the bedrock of how i look at this insanity.

Remember these wise words: The world will not be destroyed by those who do EVIL but by those who Watch them doing it, without doing anything about it. AE

James is going to be on the wrong side of history if keeps saying the war is against hamas it is not against hamas it is against all of Palestine

WHO IS TALKING FOR THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE THE ONLY ONE I SEE IS HAMAS . WHO ELSE IS HELPING NO ONE .

Occupier doesn't have the right to defend itself, the occupied do. Let that be clear.

There is news that the number of people who were killed on Oct 7th was around 700 and about 400 of them were military and some of them were killed by friendly fire. You can find out for yourself if this is true or not.

It’s not just about the three hostages waving a white flag shot dead by Israeli soldiers. How is it possible that nobody is also talking about the IDF helicopter gunships and tanks that also shot and killed many Israelis on October 7th as reported by Israeli media channels. How can they keep this quiet and for how long?

Her majesty queen Elizabeth 2, visited over 100 nation’s in her 70 year reign, but Israel wasn’t one of them, I wonder why I ask myself?

You can not call Freedom Fighters with no army Terrorists or take the Nelson Mandela Statue down!!!!!

I am also shocked the way Biden behave, and the silence from my own gov

I was raised in catholic culture. I never thought much about this conflict until recently. I have a lot of friends and co-workers who were heaviliy invested in this conflict for a long time and they were talking about it but it all looked like conspiracy theory to me. They told Israel controlled the US. I was like yeah right, and we didn't land on the moon. With recent events, I've tried to inform myself. I was naively thinking that they both have their reasons and this tragedy is due to historical events. I've looked into both sides but I only found one side. On the other side, I only found obvious lies, dumb obvious propaganda, shameless inhumanity, total disregard for facts. I wanted to have a balanced opinion on the conflict so I dig deeper and deeper, looking for any fact that would explain everything. I think I did find their reasons and at the end of the day, those reasons are totally alien to my culture. I came to the conclusion that they don't think like us, they don't have the same values as us, we don't have any common ground to discuss. They are effectively barbarians to me and it appears my friends and co-workers were right all along. I said earlier I was raised in a catholic culture. Actually I thought it was a secular culture at first, I didn't have any perspective on my culture. I thought it was universally accepted that you should love your felow humans, that you should help the people who need it, you should not lie, you should not steal, etc. But now I understand those values are christian values and they are not shared by everybody. I understand now those in power in Israel are barbarians.

One positive that has come out of this for me is i have come to realise how corrupt our leaders are and how we have been manipulated.

Of course Hamas will come out of this stronger. It has similarities with Irish history where when British forces struck back hard at an attack by Irish separatists it only shifted opinion more over to the side of the separatists' movement. While there is little similarity between the two, the reaction to the Easter Rising of 1916 springs to mind. After that rebellion, and the bundled British response, the Irish people swung dramatically in favour for an independent Irish Republic, away from what we would call a devolved government that was agreed in 1914. I foresee a similar shift once this debacle comes to an end but even more pronounced.

2004 international court of justice said they don’t have a right to self defence against occupied people. Only right to repel their attacks

... well.. I shouldn't call... I am older than Israel...many dramatic and tragic events have happened in the world at this time...but I have never, EVER felt such disgust, repulse and loathing for a country as I do now for Israel and the United States. .. disgusting...

SHAME ISRAEL AND AMERICA

I haven't seen the video yet, but want to comment on the thumbnail, "They're the winner, regardless of the outcome." They are fighting for a just cause, and even if the entire world opposes it, the cause remains just. No force can equate resistance with terrorism.

It took 20,000 civilians 70% women and children dead for James O’Brian to come to this conclusion. The utter state. Ask anyone with skin in the game from the Palestinian side to know that this was going to happen on oct 8th.

We tend to fall into the bottomless pit of our prejudices. Yet the figures of dead and devastation, leap off the screen. A Middle East greater war hangs by a thread. Poor people of Palestine. Pushed to the margins from their lands..

Cognitive dissonance always seems to be be an understatement when it comes to this issue.

THEY SAID TURN GAZA INTO A CAR PARK. THEY SAID THIS FROM DAY 1

As it has been said you do not achieve peace by speaking to you friends, but to your enemies. In the end after all the evil bloodshed the only answer will have to be a negotiated settlement.

The llamas won the moment they went back with "Postages". Israel had one chance to win, that meant not doing what they have ended up doing. They should've immediately resorted to negotiations and kept drip feeding "Those videos". It would've kept most of the world sympathy with Israel. But we know now the route Israel went and wanted to go.

Consider who else in the UK media is able to speak so directly truth to power on this? It’s scary the lack of moral backbone or fear other journalists have in calling this out. History won’t judge them well

Looks like your understanding is behind the latest admissions by Israeli hostages, IDF , journalists that many of the deaths attributed to Hamas were actually committed by IDF under the Hannibal directive. So the burnt bodies, cars , houses, women and children were caused by IDF soldiers attending the scene and not by Hamas.

When you remove reason from reality and replace it with inane religious and nationalistic dogma you can't rationally expect anything other than disaster, either sooner or later.

People still condemning them when their actions on the 7th have been mostly debunked and in that case what they did is the conclusion of 80 years of occupation, oppression and abuse. I pity anyone who supports the other side because they’d obviously allow someone to take over their home, and not stand up for their loved ones.

"Hamas asking Israel to stop bombing Gaza is prolonging the agony for everybody" James O'Brien

If this is winning, I dread to think what losing looks like!

The fact that we only blame Netanyahu for this and forget that the majority of Israelis think that Netanyahu is actually not doing enough violence in Gaza is pure ignorance. If you know a bit of history you must know that the greater Israel will be from the river to the river. From Euphrates River, Iraq to Nile river in Egypt. Devouring Jordan, Lebanon, huge part of Syria , part of turkey, part of Saudi Arabia , and part of Egypt.

The one who is willing to see humanity in the other is the victor. War needs you to blind yourself, so you can convince yourself that your harming an object not an individual part of humanity.

Remember how you chastised Corbyn for wanting to bring a solution forward for the Palestinian people. The bloods on your hands also James

I don't consider Oct7 to be a "horrific act of terror" - the kibbutz was run by the Israeli army and the vast majority of the people there were either military, ex military, police or security. Hamas had no idea that there was a festival as this was only decided 1-2 days earlier - civilians were not the target (the definition of terrorism). Most of the civilians killed were actually killed by the IDF using helicopters and tanks under the Hannibal Directive.

At the start of the attack, I was racking my brain to try to work out why Hamas would even consider the attack and how they thought they would benefit, given that Israel was always going to dominate in terms of any military action - It just didn't make sense to me. It's only just hit me that the sole reason they did this is to make Israel look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world and I fear they may have actually succeeded in their aims.

Thank you James for your honesty and understanding of this awful situation in Gaza, what we always wanted is for the Palestinians to live in peace and have the same rights as Isreal! Double standards and hypocrisy from all western governments especially the USA is unacceptable to think how everyone stood for Ukraine against Russia? What’s the difference and Russia did not commit a quarter from what happened to the people of Gaza. And for the audacity of anyone still singing about Isreal has the right to defend itself is either blind or a Zionist supporter with blood on their hands. How can anyone not be outraged of what is happening to the Palestinian people for the last 75 years not just the massacres they have been subjected to fir 75 days!

Its not only gazza what happening in westbank and Jerusalem hebron

Peace

I like Jeremy Corbyn and i never did before.

If I was a total cynic, I would say this is aploy to appease the Americans Public over Christmas.

It should be pointed out that whatever you may think about Hammas, the IDF has been found to be much more brutal and sadistic. IDF should therefore be condemned in the same way James.

James: A person who will continue to maintain their beliefs, opinions and views even when confronted with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary cannot be reasoned with and should henceforth be completely ignored. It is irrational to maintain a position which is self-evidently incorrect and unsupportable by sane and rational people, and that often falls into being a representation of cultism.

" To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead " -- Thomas Paine, US Founding Father

"Impunity Destroys Covenants." David Cody Peppers. 🕊️

Your honesty will save lives. James I’m not saying this to butter u up but u r a true gem in this situation. U don’t understand. Although it is so so sad and tragic 20,000 dead (most likely 2 to 3 times more) thousands and thousands under the rubbles, thousands missing, your words will eventually save thousands of lives. Your honesty will save lives.

3:10 Its called 'bigotry', James. 🕊️

I wish international power houses were fair to give both nations equal amount of territory and their statehood.

I am so happy to have found you. I enjoy your level and knowledgeable responses and honchos make people think

James still pretends that this war is between the IDF & Hamas

Ask your fellow presenters. They all know, they all knew and now 20 000 deaths are coming round to how you and Sangita looki at the reality. Take a moment to look at the colonial mindset of your fellow producers ..

There are never any winners in wars, both sides lose, it's just a matter of which side loses the most.

Let’s not forget what’s happening in Jenin;WestBank!

MSM needs to cover Maui more those missing children like gazas deserve better... shame on you all

Over 20.000 civilians killed on the ground and another 20.000 still under the rubble, we passed the phase of talks and negotiations...

Very sad .

If you approach the situation from a position of "not much knowledge" you are likely to agree with the positions suggested by the State of Israel. If you you start with a position of understanding facts about the history of Israel then you will find it very difficult to accept the positions suggested by the state of Israel. From my point of view the moment that Israel began it's revenge upon ordinary civilians, it committed a serious and devastating strategic blunder, that makes Brexit look like a relatively considered and rational position (by comparison).

Where would we be without James putting us straight?

I wonder why the British did this complicated territory distribution with all it's previous colonies which led to perpetual Dispute or dissatisfaction!!!...

Can not decision like this Israel genocida and ceasefire by Netanyahu has to claim to Internasional court. Netanyahu has to reponsible

I’m every interview Iv witnessed on UKposts whether it be LBC or Mr “Uncensored” no one has been able to answer what a proportional response should have been to the decades of occupation before 7th Oct happened, it’s easy to say “not the events of 7/10” but what was proportionate for their inhumane occupation and subjugation? May be an even more important question than what is a proportionate response to the events of that day, which we all agree were horrific.

Calling out the U.S.A as the "enabler" using delay tactics at the UNSEC all week - despicable behaviour

What about the illegal settlements/colonization of the West Bank? How’s that not entered into the discussion

I would hope that both sides can come out of this with a lasting peace.

Honestly James I think it’d be hard to find people who don’t have an opinion on this situation whether it is pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian because of how widespread this has been, not just this campaign but all previous ones and how often the IDF and Israeli spokespeople are on Western news channels when it is ongoing.

I have read books by Noam chomsky and Norman Finkelstein on the issue. Its become very clear that the treatment of Palestinian people over decades is a shameful period of history.

Thank you respected channel for supporting Helpless victims of suffocating oppression for 75 years

Neither Jordan, neither Egypt, neither Syria, neither Lebanon, neither Tunisia what to receive the Palestinians.

"I think Hamas will come out on top because where do all the people who had their homes and families destroyed turn next?" - James, that's why Hamas exists in the first place...

sadly our leaders keep parroting the apartheid state's talking points, i.e. the only democracy in the middle east, a light unto the world, the land of the chosen race, the most moral army in the world, the land without a people for a people without a land, blah blah blah.

Thank you ❤

The IDF soldiers did not even spare the dead bodies after their burial. They bulldozed the entire burial area crushing the dead bodies. Terribly evil act. A scar on humanity.

Every day since 7th October has been an Isaeli atrocity in Gaza. As evil and despicable as what happened on 7th Oct.

Israel-Us duo. They have lost all respect.

I'm on the side of Palastinians freedom and equality!

What the most ignkrant is that folk dont understand how the UK caused this problem

Tip of the day...hamas was democraticly elected before bzing called terrosriist...united nations refuse to label them as terrorist but as résistance....sorry u skipped that .... plus eveery free palestinien support tthrm