Hello, hello, hello, and welcome. I'm Meryl Kelele. We are DM25, a radical political movement for Europe. And this is another live discussion with our coordinating team, featuring subversive ideas you won't hear anywhere else. And today we'll be returning once again to the unfolding tragedy in Gaza and looking at our leader's reaction to it. Let's recap. On October 7th, Hamas launched a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip on communities and military bases in southern Israel. They killed about 1,400 Israelis and took at least 200 hostages. Israel's response so far has been to unleash its military might against the people of Gaza, launching continual airstrikes against civilians, including those attempting to flee, depriving 2.5 million innocent people of water, food, energy, and medicine, attempting to displace by force over a million Palestinians from their homes with no guarantee of return. And today, as Israel's onslaught goes on, the death toll from Gaza stands at 5,800 people, almost half of them children. More than 800 of those children are still missing under the rubble and a ground invasion by Israel, which could kill many more and ignite a wider war has not even begun. Now, these facts alone are heartbreaking and outrageous. Nothing can ever justify the deliberate slaughter of innocent people, neither Israeli nor Palestinian. But the Israeli government isn't acting alone here. This, the most far-right government in Israel's history controlling one of the most powerful and advanced militaries on earth is striking Gaza with the full backing of key Western leaders. Leaders like unelected European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who offered her unqualified support to Israel with not a word about respects for the rights of Palestinians. Like Francis Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Olaf Scholz, who have banned pro-Palestine protests in their countries, like Georgia Maloney in Italy and Rishi Sunak in the UK, who are falling over themselves to support Israel's right to self-defense. Yet, on the streets, in European capitals and across the world, millions have come out to protest against the Israeli government's actions, including many Jewish and Israeli voices in some of the largest demonstrations since the Iraq War. And social media has seen a vigorous, if at times, unhealthy debate on the topic. So what's going on? Are Europe's governments at odds with their people over what's happening in Gaza? What's really behind these cowardly moves of our leaders? Is their support genuine? Is it good politics or is it something else? And what can all of us, watching the horrors in Gaza unfold on our screens, do about it? Our panel, including our own Yanis Varoufakis and our crew of activists, leaders and thinkers from across Europe will be weighing in on this topic. And you, you out there, if you've got thoughts, comments, rants, anything you want to say, please put them in the YouTube chat and we'll put them to our panel. And before we start, I just want to say that we've got a petition going, calling for the resignation of Ursula van der Leyen, which is on fire at the moment. Somebody will have to tell me what the current counter is, but it was many tens of thousands last time we looked. And if you would like to sign that petition, you can simply go to dm25.org slash Ursula, U-R-S-U-L-A, and you'll find a link to the petition to add your voice. Thank you. Let's kick it off with Yanis. Florez yours. Thank you, Maren. I'm going to concentrate on us Europeans. I did that on the 8th of October, the day after the Hamas pogrom against Israelis, Israeli non-combatants. I was being interviewed in Berlin over something completely different and I was asked to comment. I was clear that the journalist who asked me the question was expecting me to do the usual European thing. The holier than thou routine of Europeans. And that includes all of us. This is a totally self-critical, you know, a European criticizing himself and other fellow Europeans as Europeans. So the expectation was that I was going to do one more time the usual routine of we are Europeans. We are civilized. We look down upon you scoundrels in the Middle East, you know, human animals that can be Palestinian, terrorists or Israeli killers who are taking the form of settlers in the West Bank or special forces of the IDF. And we Europeans are going to condemn all of the violence which is beneath us because we are so morally superior to, you know, Israeli killers and Palestinian killers and all those of this riffraff in the Middle East who are so uncivilized, so uncouth, so beneath us Europeans who, you know, we populate the various television programs and news feeds with our equidistant, sometimes not equidistant, but nevertheless, our condemnation, words of condemnation. I wasn't going to play that role, ladies and gentlemen. I did something completely different. I said, listen, I'm not going to condemn anyone. Not the settlers, not Hamas, not the Israeli army, not the Palestinians. I'm going to condemn us Europeans and Americans because we are the true villains of the peace here. For decades, we've turned a blind eye to what has been happening in the Middle East in the ancient lines of Palestine. We've allowed this massacre to continue. We have so much, so much to be taken to task for. And I'm not going to play this game anymore of distancing myself as a European and condemning the various killing sprees and pogroms that are going on there because I am responsible. We are responsible as Europeans and as Americans. There is no doubt that we Europeans for hundreds of years have been persecuting, killing, downgrading and humiliating Jews from the first diaspora all the way to the Ukrainian Croatian Thessaloniki pogroms to the Holocaust. But we are also the people who made it possible for the offensive to humanity slogan, a people without a land and the land without the people or a land without the people for a people without a land as if the Palestinians were not people. We aided and abetted the ethnic cleansing that started decades and decades and decades ago even before 1948 under the Balfour Declaration of the British with aided and abetted the crime of creating a situation where the aspirations of the Jews, the Israelis in Palestine and the aspirations of the Palestinians became absolutely utterly incompatible. We ended up with two extremist positions that would lead to genocide. Either the Israelis would be ethnically cleansed from Palestine or the Palestinians would be ethnically cleansed. And what have we been doing since 1948? We've been turning a blind eye as Europeans now I'm speaking to the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians maybe because we have a very terrible and very well-deserved sense of guilt over the centuries of discrimination and pogroms against the Jews. We essentially tried to expunge our substantial guilt for the Holocaust, for the pogroms, for the discrimination of the Jews by allowing the extremists amongst the Israelis ethnically to cleanse the Palestinians. So my message to Europeans who feel guilty, rightly so, we should all feel guilty for the Holocaust. How many Palestinians need to be killed? Moved out of their homes, made refugees. Ethnically cleansed for our sense of guilt for the Holocaust to be cleansed. There can be no answer to this question which is not in itself a war crime. When I hear Europeans like Ursula von der Leyen, who is a disgrace?  You're only there because Angela Merkel wanted to get rid of you.  You represent no one.  Nobody gave you the right to go to a war zone in Israel and effectively support the notion that to expunge one war crime, we are going to have another war crime. Because when we say, when she says, when European leaders and not just Ursula von der Leyen but every single European leader I've heard that we defend the right of Israel to defend itself. Of course, we defend the right of everyone to defend themselves. But they are not talking about defending themselves. They are talking about carrying out with our complete approval a war crime.  Since when have we allowed anyone to tear up the Geneva Convention? Just because they feel that what they suffered, the pogrom they suffered, the war crimes they suffered, the deaths that they are mourning gives them the right to set aside the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention was created for horrible, horrible, dark moments in human history for war. Every time there's a war, there is at least one side, usually two, maybe more, who think that they were completely and utterly devastated by a horrible, evil enemy. Do you know of any war where one side, especially the losing side, the side that suffered casualties, do not immediately, immediately tell you honestly, honestly, and they fully believe it and they have every reason to believe it, that their adversary is evil, they always do. That's why we created the Geneva Convention, so that when the evil of war takes place and one side feels that the other side are in the wrong, that they are criminals, that they are killers, the Geneva Convention stops us from legitimizing war crimes in response to war crimes. And here you have the President of European Commission, Prime Minister's Presidents, effectively telling the world that international law is only going to be respected when it suits us, when it is consistent with our prejudices, when it is soothing to our conscience, a conscience that should never be sued because we are guilty above all else for the crimes against humanity than when you're having for decades and decades and decades in Gaza, in Palestine, in the West Bank. This total absorption of our media, of our polity, of our politicians, of our leaders on Hamas, who created Hamas? apartheid created Hamas, Netanyahu himself, a war criminal of great stature amongst war criminals. A man who, if there were a kind of home for war criminals, he would be fated by all the other war criminals as a great contributor to that clan, has staked his whole political career on killing off any chance of peace between Israel and Palestine, between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Remember, he became Prime Minister with one promise, he would wreck the Oslo peace process. So when our great and good leaders in Europe say, oh, there should be no violence, there should be a peace process, why don't the Palestinians pursue their legitimate objectives by peaceful means? Well, they tried it. And somebody who is Prime Minister in Israel today and has been Prime Minister for young has succeeded in becoming Prime Minister and has succeeded in becoming popular and being elected again and again and again. And don't forget that Donald Trump was elected. Don't forget that Orban was elected. The fact that he was elected doesn't mean anything. It does not bathe him in a liquid of morality and ethics and ethicality. He made the point of wrecking the peace process. He made the point of turning Hamas into the only functioning group representing Palestinians because together with the United States, together with the European Union, they humiliated the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. In the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is king and queen, and Hamas is non-existent. How did they reward the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority who laid down their arms and renounced violence and recognized Israel? They rewarded them with ethnically cleansing them within the West Bank, blowing up their houses, taking their houses, getting rid of Palestinians from the whole chunks of East Jerusalem. More recently, who will forget the remarkable meeting between Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump's son-in-law, Mr. Kushner, who even had the audacity of presenting jointly a U.S.-Israeli peace plan, which was clearly, clearly a plan for eradicating the Palestinians. Netanyahu clearly said, the point here is that Israel will have full control of every square inch of ancient Israel, meaning all the Palestinian lands. When I hear Europeans say, but hang on, Janus, Hamas started it. I look at them and say, what? So everything was going hanky dore up until the 7th of October, when suddenly some crazed Hamas gunmen carried out the pogrom. It was unprovoked. What do you mean it was unprovoked? You have systematic ethnic cleansing, murders, expropriation of land.  They built it in such a way as to separate Palestinians' houses, homes, from their olive groves so that they can not go and pick up their olives. And this happened, what? 25 years ago, unprovoked. Do we really want to enter into this game? Who started it first? You know, the Basil Faulty, you started the war, come at the sequence. We know how it started. It started with an Akbar. It started with interventions by European powers, even before the Akbar, to push Palestinians out of land on which they were living for centuries. On the basis of the right of the return of the Israelis, of the Jews. The moment you do that, you start a war. But, ladies and gentlemen, comrades, friends, this is not a war what's going on. I have made the mistake of calling it a war in the past. I've made the mistake of calling Gaza an open air prison. It is not an open air prison. A little warning for my German friends. Do not be shocked. It is a concentration camp. Prison is for prisoners. It is for criminals. It is for people that have been gone through a system of judges, of juries, a legal system, have been accused of something. The two and a half million people of Gaza are not accused of anything. They are men, women, children. Their only crime is to be Palestinian. And by being Palestinian, to be a clear and present danger for extremist Israelis who believe the mantra that that was a land without people. Now, we of the West are answerable for that. I also happen to have an Australian nationality. Well, I'm ashamed of the history of Australia because that was the precise, precise rationale for exterminating the First Nation, the First Australians, the Aborigines. Do you remember what it was called? In Latin, Terra Nullius, an empty earth. When the British, when the Europeans arrived in Australia, they called Australia an empty land, a Terra Nullius, meaning that the people there were not human, therefore legitimizing their extermination. The Zionist expression, a land without the people, for a people without a land is Terra Nullius. It is the beginning of the ideology that arms the hand that kills the people who were not supposed to be there. We Europeans are complicit in this. We persecuted the Jews and in the last few decades, we are trying to expunge this guilt from our hearts by allowing them to exterminate, to persecute, to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians. Two wrongs never made one right. And we Europeans are the criminals here. I will not, I insist, like I did in that television interview on the 9th of October, I am not going to condemn the Israelis who are killing Palestinians. They are Palestinians who are killing Israelis. I am condemned each and every one of us Europeans for centuries of persecuting Jews and now turning a blind eye when the most extremist Israelis are persecuting the Palestinians. We need to do whatever it takes to start a peace process, an immediate ceasefire, an immediate exchange of hostages, exchange of hostages. Do you know there are 183 children, Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons? Are these not hostages? I do not justify the hostages held by Hamas or Hamas for holding hostages. But I haven't heard any political leader in Europe lambasting the Israeli authorities for keeping in their prisons scores of children, old people, women, people that had nothing to do with terrorism, but nothing to do with bombs, nothing to do with guns. So let's have an exchange of hostages. Let's have an immediate ceasefire and let's have a peace process under the United Nations, which begins with a very simple declaration. At the end of this process, there will be, and that is the responsibility of the United Nations and the international community to ensure and guarantee there will be no apartheid on the land of Israel. Thank you. Thank you, Yenis. Lucas, Lucas from Browroon, based in Berlin, those of you. Thank you, Madan. Yeah, like you said, I'm based in Berlin. I'm therefore speaking from Germany and the past few weeks have been, I think the most surreal of my life. German media and politicians may be silent about the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, but I can assure you that doesn't mean they haven't been busy. They've been very busy, in fact, doing something else. Using the Hamas attack on Israel as a pretext to unleash all of the racism and Islamophobia that they know they usually better off hiding. Almost immediately after October 7th, pro-Palestine demonstrations were banned, like you mentioned in your intro. The guise for this blatant violation of freedom of expression is combating anti-Semitism. Well, part of the Jewish community tried to stage a protest called Jewish Berliners Against Violence in the Middle East. That protest was banned. A protest called Simply Youth Against Racism was announced. That protest was banned. A Jewish Israeli protestor held up a sign saying stop the genocide in Gaza on a Berlin square. She was arrested. Neukölln, a neighborhood here in Berlin with a large population of Turkish and Arab descent has been turned into a police state. A huge non-stop presence of policing riot gear have been harassing residents, assaulting protesters, pepper spraying journalists, including Jewish ones, and they've arrested children of Arab descent as young as nine years old. Who is this for? Who does this make safer? Meanwhile, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor who is a social Democrat on paper has basically turned into Donald Trump as far as migration is concerned and called for mass deportations. The media keeps stoking up racist and fee-amongering against Muslims with stories about Hamas fighters hidden among a future wave of refugees. Palestinian voices are being shut down simply for being Palestinian as happened in the Frankfurt Book Fair where Palestinian writer Adonis Shibley had her award ceremony canceled. One journalist for one of Germany's largest newspapers figured that at this point, she might as well just say the quiet part out loud. The other day, she tweeted, Islamophobia may be justified. And you might be thinking that she deleted a post and apologized right away. No, that was three days ago and it's still up. Check it for yourself if you don't believe me. Her name is Fatina Keilani. Antisemitism is a major issue in Europe and in Germany and it's been on the rise. It has no place in any society and it needs to be combated vigorously and TM25 will always stand against it. And we will do well to remember that the fact that ideologically motivated episodes of antisemitism in Germany are far more common among the racist xenophobic far right than among the Arab and Muslim communities. And that the party that represents this racist xenophobic far right is currently polling in second place nationwide. And that far right views are known to be prevalent inside the police, which is exactly the group of people currently terrorizing the residents of Neukölln and in other places as well. A couple of days ago, a hundred Jewish artists, writers and scientists living in Germany wrote the following in a beautiful open letter. As Jews, we reject this pretext for racist violence and express our full solidarity with our Arab, Muslim and especially Palestinian neighbors. We refuse to live in prejudiced fear. Let's listen to them, echo their words and do the same. Thank you, Lukas. Let's move to Judith Mayer also in Berlin. Thor is yours. Thank you. And yes, I agree absolutely, Lukas. It has really shocked me how quickly Germany is moving back into old thought patterns. Dehumanizing not Jews this time. Everyone is pretty much cool with Jews, but Muslims are the new enemy. And I think it's very scary. And the other thing that really scared me this week is how much we are not hearing because there is so much talking about Gaza. So much, you cannot escape it. It's on all news channels all the time, the newspapers anyway. But there are big holes in what we're hearing. So for example, what we're not hearing is a commitment from the Israeli side to do whatever it takes to protect hospitals and keep them running. We can prove they do not have this intention because today the World Health Organization reported that a third of Gaza hospitals, 12 out of 35 Gaza hospitals have sustained too much bomb damage to keep operating or they have run out of fuel for the generators. When looking at health facilities in general, it's two thirds that have stopped working. And Israel is only claiming that one of these that was hit by Palestinian rockets. So for at least 11 out of 35 hospitals, it's Israel at fault for shutting them down in the middle of this conflict. Nobody is commenting about this. Another claim is that, well, Israel claims that it fights Hamas. And if we took them at their word, what we should be seeing and what we are not seeing, nobody of our leaders or our media is pointing out is that if they were fighting Hamas, they would be offering humanitarian assistance to civilians called in the middle. It would be the minimum to do to prevent undecided people taking the side of Hamas. And in fact, we're seeing the opposite. The Israeli government is blocking the border and food deliveries that the Gazans would get on any normal day and that they already paid for. And they even blocking humanitarian assistance by the UN, the Red Cross and other renowned international organizations. Also, if Israel was really serious about fighting Hamas, we would be seeing efforts to arrest the leaders and the financiers that are based in Qatar and Turkey. And as Yannis said, even Netanyahu, some members of the Netanyahu government have been allowing billions in funding to go to Hamas. And neither the foreign nor the Israeli enablers of Hamas are being arrested. Israel is only fighting the food soldiers. For as long as the money doesn't dry up and the war crimes don't stop, Hamas will have no trouble to replenish its gas and food to our soldiers with those who have lost the mother or daughter in this. Also, Israel is claiming that it is on a mission to free the hostages. Well, what would we expect to see in our countries when there's a terrorist group with hostages? We'd see negotiations, we'd see intelligence officers sneaking in, we'd see special forces liberating a building floor by floor.  And yet in Gaza, we're seeing no negotiations, no intelligence agents, no special forces, only bombing with the predictable results. The IDF claims to have killed several dozen Hamas fighters, including three subcommandes last night, just last night. Now, I'm not sure how many they mean by several dozen. Let's be nice and assume 60, or I think they would have said something else. They wouldn't have said several dozen, they would have said maybe more than 50 or something if they had killed 60. Let's assume they killed 64 soldiers and three subcommanders, but the total number of people killed last night is 704, including 300 children. So even assuming that they meant 60, the IDF killed five children and seven other civilians for each Hamas foot soldiers that they killed last night. If they had chosen residential buildings to bomb at complete random, they could have hardly gotten the worst result. If you imagine a random residential building in Gaza might contain five children, seven women or elderly people, one Hamas fighter. Well, I think we see the result. And this callousness towards civilian lives even extends to the same Israeli hostages that they're claiming to want to free. Nobody is pointing this out. But for example, in Haaretz, there was one report from an eyewitness in Kibbutz Bayeri which said that on October 9th, two days after the big attack, there were still Hamas fighters with hostages in some of the village's houses. And rather than waiting them out, negotiating or sending in special forces, the witness says that the IDF just started shelling these houses, killing everyone in sight. The Hamas fighters and the hostages. So if some people higher up in the IDF have so much hatred towards Palestinians that they will give the order to destroy houses in Kibbutz Bayeri with Israeli hostages still inside, we cannot expect them to be any kinder to houses with Palestinian children or houses with hostages in Gaza. And this means that Israelis and Palestinians actually have a common cause. For everyone who wants to free these Israeli hostages, they must unite with the Palestinians and demand the court martial of all these dangerous criminals in the IDF whose hatred of Arabs exceeds their love of Israeli and Arab civilians. We must revoke their license to bomb and we must insist they treat this hostage situation like a hostage situation. The EU can help Israel by sending experienced hostage negotiators, but we should not be sending bombs and war equipment which are totally inappropriate to the situation. We should not condone war crimes with the need to defend itself. And above all, any further collaboration with the state of Israel must be contingent on an end to the blockade and end to ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and ceasefire now. Thank you, you did. If you've been putting comments in the chat, just know that it's going at such a rate that we're having a struggling to keep up. But a couple of quick comments. Ipatios says, amid rising conflicts in Russia, Ukraine and well, with Russia, Ukraine between Israel and Hamas and the prospect of a Russia Iran China axis, how vital is the urgent resolution of regional issues before a global crisis becomes inevitable? And linked to this, Dino asks, how can a peace process take place in such a situation? How does it even start? Lastly, someone else asked, what role might China play in such a peace process? So please factor these comments into your responses. Panos, Panos, where are you Panos? You're based in Athens, floor is yours. Go for it. Thank you, Mehrem. And thanks, Judith, for all those illuminating comments about hostages. I mean, it has come to the surface that Israel has a special way of special protocols dealing with hostages, especially members of the armed forces who are taking hostage. The Hannibal Directive basically says that they prefer that they are killed rather than have them as hostages. And that can really shed some light on how they treat the situation with hostages now. I'd like to go back to the European response. We had certain prime ministers visit Tel Aviv right after, from their lion. And basically they're like, we're totally with you, Netanyahu, just trying not to kill so many civilians because we're having a backlash back home. And what Netanyahu replies to this is that this is a war between civilization and barbarism. Hamas is ISIS. This is what he says. And as the world united against ISIS, the world needs to unite against Hamas. So going back to the question that Ipatios raised about the danger of a world erupting into war, this is an added responsibility of the European leadership. I mean, this is not only about the plight of Palestinians. This is not only about the Middle Eastern question. This is now, I mean, if you embolden Israel and you do not take a principle stance and you do not stick to international law, there is a real risk that there will be a wider, a widening of this conflict and a third world war basically. I mean, you have forces from the US, of course, aircraft carriers and also China in the region. And so this is a real danger. It's beyond the Palestinian question and it is the EU's responsibility to act like a responsible player in favor of world peace.  At the moment they are bombing the concentration camp and we have two, 300 children dying every day. And this of course has caused a huge wave of indignation across the world. And this is the positive news that we should also mention that there's been huge demonstrations in every capital and people will just not take it. A small note again on anti-Semitism, during those demonstrations, you might hear people say that the Jews have been massacring Palestinians for 75 years. You cannot say that. We need to be serious about this. You can say the state of Israel has massacred Palestinians. You cannot talk about the Jews. This is important because in this wave, during this indignation about so many innocent deaths, it is only natural that you will see a rise in anti-Semitism. Within TM25, we do not talk about the German crimes in World War II. We talk about the Nazi crimes in World War II, the crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators. Just keep an eye out for that. Thank you, Panos, and a very valid and important point. Who do we have next? Amir, Amir Qia'i, our policy coordinator. Thor is yours. And before I hand it over to you Amir, incidentally, in relation to what you just said, Panos, I know that many of you here have attended these pro-Palestine protests, including in Germany. So always interested to know your personal accounts of what you're hearing on the ground and how people are acting. Amir, Thor is yours. Yeah, I was at the protest in Amsterdam. It was, we had, I think, about three to four kilometers long of people marching through for a few hours across Amsterdam. We were at the protest outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague with hundreds of people. That's, it's a small space, so you can't fit more. And the public was pouring into this, was, you know, poured into the streets. We, the traffic was stopped. And everywhere you look at, people have come out. The slogans that we hear are for ending the genocide everywhere, for freeing Palestine and so on. I mean, with all these hundreds of protests this past few weeks, there hasn't, you know, you know, one can scour the media and try to look for anything that was possibly anti-semitic and there hasn't been anything because there's the millions that come out and are supporting Palestine, know the truth of the matter and know that this is an issue of justice and returning and restoring peace to the region. So that has been both personally and of course politically good to see as, and that the protests have even engulfed groups that for some time have been on the sidelines. There's been a bit of a discussion within Extension Rebellion here in the Netherlands about what to do.  So what we have seen is that while maybe our governments have been silenced on the genocide the people have not even at risk of detention, arrest, imprisonment, people have come out. And even more surprisingly, European technocrats in Brussels and elsewhere within the EU machine have come out. We've seen hundreds of signatures and open letters going out. Even within the Dutch government there's been a process of condemning in a sense the Dutch response to the genocide and staying silent. So, and that pressure actually changed the government position here that they're now adopting along with Spain and Belgium urging a ceasefire. So we have seen that even people who may not be tied to the area have seen the actual reality that this is effectively a genocide that is taking place right in front of our eyes. And also just bearing in mind, importantly that today is the day that the United Nations was founded 78 years ago. And the Palestinian file has been intertwined with this body. And we're gonna be talking about hundreds of resolutions both United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. And the level of impunity and the prevention of earlier hostilities has gotten us to this point where Israeli policymakers are unfortunately, the ones that have power are unfortunately looking at this as a unique, and I'm quoting here unique and rare opportunity for the final rehabilitation of the population of Gaza. And this is from the Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy. It's online, people can see it. Who recommend that moving the entire population of Gaza into Egypt. And they've already worked at the cost of this and it's affordable and so on and so forth. So that's the level of inhumanity and unfortunately that we're seeing this regarding the fact that all of this is triggering as both partners set a potential for a regional war and maybe even more than that. I also wanted to quickly touch on one of the questions from the audience, from the members of the public about how can a peace process start? And we are lucky that we have so many good examples in history and especially in the case of South Africa where decades of apartheid was brought to an end. And once that happened and we had our first elections and I remember the long queues when I was younger. Part of the process was the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which began its work in 1996. And over a period of time and the work still continues there were thousands of people who came forward and either as victims talking about what happened or as perpetrators confessing if you like to the truth of what actually happened and what they did and there was also amnesty granted. So this examples of restorative justice and we don't have time to go into it now but there's examples of restorative justice that can be used upon in the case of Israel and Palestine and importantly this can only happen as Janice also mentioned earlier that apartheid had to first be dismantled and we mustn't forget that as long as people are coming out and raising their voices day in and day out putting themselves at risk that's when the pressure can actually have an impact. Thank you. Thank you. Amir, some comments from the chat. Constance says, through all this one fact needs to be kept in mind. Israel was the occupier, Palestinians are the occupied no amount of propaganda could change that. Mike Breen says Zelensky wanted to join Netanyahu in solidarity with their war crimes. What now for the West international rules-based order? He asks, DRS metal says, if Europeans don't want more migrants from West Asia and North Africa then they should help prevent wars and stop being a US vessel. I think perhaps a reference there to Olaf Scholz comments about the war. I think there are a lot of comments about immigration and deporting people. And lastly, Tom Bottle says, imagine the fact that calling for a ceasefire now is labeled repugnant and disgraceful. The world is coming apart. He's referring there to White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, who was very much against a ceasefire in the wake of the attacks and use some rather colorful language. David Castro, Portuguese based in Belgium. What's your take? Thanks, Mehran. Well, you know, I've heard a lot already and I just wanted to contribute by adding something smaller to what has already been said potentially, which is that, you know, I could talk about how the people of Gaza are continuously denied basic freedoms about how the mental health needs have risen to record breaking levels with most of the population suffering from PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. Could talk about how hospitals are being bombed and in severe risk of closing. Some of them are forever closed due to lack of resources. I could talk about how the blockade is in violation of international law. Like we all know, I could talk about how Israel has always refused the entry of goods on what it calls security grounds. I could talk about how over 90% of children have been tear gassed and had their homes searched or damaged. I could also talk about how the US has vetoed the hundreds of UN resolutions like a mere reference. But what I want to say and what I want to clarify is this. What is going on in Gaza in particular has been Israeli government policy since 1967. It didn't just happen by chance. None of this is accidental. This has been entirely premeditated and very carefully orchestrated. It's been a plan which Sarah Roy calls de-development, which in other words, and just to quote, it's a policy of deliberate, systematic and progressive dismemberment of an indigenous economy by a dominant one where economic and societal potential is not just distorted, but denied. That's the reality. Let's not mince our words here. In the United States and European Union knows all about it. Yet they refuse to join in with international consensus against this horrendous, murderous and ultimately psychotic policy. The plan is clear to ensure Gaza separation from the outside and to deny any possibility for freedom. This is why we all have to come together against what is going on and take to the streets in our countries because we Europeans are complicit in this genocide and we must put an end to it. Thank you for that, David. Eric Edmund, our political director also based in Brussels, thought was yours. Thanks, Mehran. Just a couple of blocks away from David, in fact, can almost see his house. A lot of what I'd like to say has already been covered and I don't want to repeat what others have said much better than I ever could. The one thing that, however, we haven't spoken about and strikes me, it's a topic that we do cover now and again through DM, but I think the situation now in Gaza has made it even more clear than before. And that is that it feels like at some point as societies in the West, we kind of gave up on the hope of being represented by our politicians and our governments. It feels very much like we kind of gave up that hope. We accepted that that's not going to happen. Our governments will not speak for us. They will be representing other interests than our own and that is very much up to ourselves and self-organizing and breaking power down to ever more local levels to try and resist what is being done to us. Basically seeing democracy as a lost war, if you like. I know this sounds a bit over dramatic, but this is very much the feeling I'm getting because nobody is shocked when a politician comes out and let me take it differently. A few years ago, when genocides were being perpetrated against the Uyghurs, against Rohingya, we were fearfully incompetent as Europeans to do something about it, to stop it. But at the very least, we were not projecting the flag of the nation that was perpetrating the genocide onto our government buildings. That is a low bar, but it is a bar. It feels like Europe's crossed some kind of line here and that line of complete and utter, what's the word? I guess it's cynicism. Our governments are not responding to what people want. I felt that here in Brussels when David and I went to our own protest as at the European Commission. There were tens of thousands of people out in the street speaking out against the stance of the European Union on what is going on in Gaza. This full support to Israel, blank check, no questions asked as a genocide is basically being put. Not basically, a genocide by the technical meaning of the term is being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza with food, electricity, and water access being cut to 2.5 million people. Let's not mean some words, not throwing this word around lightly, we mean it. It is precisely what is going on in Gaza right now. And somehow we've accepted that, yeah, well, of course, what did you expect Ursula von der Leyen to do? She's in the pocket of the Americans. That's not good enough, guys. We cannot at the same time pretend we live in a democracy and also be okay with this. Something needs to give. And the approach that we've had in recent years, which is that we need to demand justice from those in power essentially splits us between those in power, those who govern and those being governed, kind of neo feudal system where those who have power, even though they're democratically elected, somehow separate to the rest of us. They're not really connected. And the best we can do is not really to replace them and to with people who we actually control as democratic citizens, but the best we can hope for is to somehow influence those who are divinely ordained to govern over the rest of us. That is kind of how we view our power within our societies at this stage. And it's not good enough. We will have situations like what is going on in Gaza on multiple future occasions because the governments that do govern over us who design and implement policy in Europe are indeed not being driven by our own interests. They're not responding to what we want when we go out in the streets and call for a ceasefire. That doesn't matter very much because we're not the power base. The power base is on the other side of the Atlantic. So we can shout and scream all we like. And until we change that, until we really focus on the root of the problem, which is that we no longer control our governments because the kind of people who make up those governments are very deeply entrenched in a political system that doesn't have our best interest at heart. This will keep on happening and it won't just happen to Palestinians. This also gonna happen to our response to the environmental collapse is going to happen to our response to social housing, to the next economic crisis when that comes along as it's want to do and the rest of it. So we really need to get serious about it. I'll leave it there. There's much more that I could say on this topic. I'll focus strongly on it as you can imagine, but I think that there more or less covers it. Well, I've got a question for you on that. I mean, you touched on it. I'd like to explore a bit more the motivations of these European leaders if we can. We've talked about the fear of being labeled anti-Semitic and European guilt. We've talked about, to some extent, the politics of it, but is there anything else behind it? I mean, what do you think might explain this just utter falling over themselves to support the US line and now to double down even in the face of humanitarian catastrophe? What do you think is motivating these people? My cat also feels very strongly on this topic. Apologize if you can hear of it. It's our dinner time. What I would say as a response to that is that ever since the war in Ukraine broke out a couple of years ago, we're seeing a resurgent NATO alliance, a NATO alliance that is rattling the scabbard at the planetary scale and the recipient of that rattling is less so Russia and more so China, Iran. And of course, there's basically this new block that is developing around those three nations, Russia and Iran and China. So there's a general flexing of power that is happening through the NATO alliance. Now, in Europe, we've been at the forefront of this geopolitical shift that has occurred with two pillars of global, I should say, importance in terms of neutrality. This can be Navy nations of Finland and Sweden going back on decades of peacekeeping work as a result of this fantastic political balancing act, which they've been conducting for, for decades in the case of Sweden over a couple of centuries, and joining that NATO alliance further polarizing the situation. So what is happening now in Israel is should also been seen through this lens of these broader geopolitical shifts, which is also why if you look at where the American aircraft carrier is heading, originally it was said to head to the Mediterranean and instead, maybe their GPS isn't working, but they've ended up outside Iran or they're on their way to Iran. Instead, shows that this is about much more than just the Palestinians and the Europeans are, we're not even being played at this stage because to be played suggests that you're offering some kind of resistance. We're pawns in this game. We've become an annex to the American State Department and we're just playing along in this bigger chessboard, which is unfolding before us. And what is going on with the Palestinians, just like Ukrainians essentially are being sacrificed at the altar of the same kind of profit, both financial and geopolitical, the same goes for the Palestinians and we're just along for the ride instead of being a voice for peace that can stand on its own to political, financial and defense legs as Europe should be especially considering our history and our past, but so far, Europe has been heading in the opposite direction. I think the European elections that are coming up are an excellent opportunity to start pushing back against this very, very dangerous trend. Thank you, Eric. I was just gonna say that, please keep everything that Eric is saying in mind the next election that happens near you, some of which we will be running in or parties that we are allied with. Okay, Johannes Fair, also based in Berlin, thought it was yours. Another voice from Germany, short intervention, thank you, madam. I was critiqued these days by one fellow comrade here in Germany and telling me that killing Jews is not fighting for freedom. What I responded to him was, yes, I agree, and you should add to that sentence, killing Palestinians is not fighting terrorism. I think if we would do both, take care and take the responsibility, especially in Germany, where I think we can all agree that if the Holocaust wouldn't have been perpetrated by Nazi Germany back then, the whole history in the Middle East wouldn't have ended up differently. So we have a historic responsibility in Europe, in Germany, but we have it for both the Jews and the Palestinians to be a force for peace in the region and not one-sided. I think unfortunately, the German leaders really have been, yeah, it is grace regarding this. A unit earlier perfectly described, how you could fight terrorism without bombing and committing a genocide in a caged, closely densely populated area and the German foreign minister from the Greens, the party that was once founded and stood for peace, basically admitted that and said, we cannot contain the humanitarian catastrophe as she was meeting with other foreign ministers in Luxembourg this week. And she even called it the squaring of the circle, which is another word for achieving the impossible. So she admitted that this cannot be achieved and still she's not changing course. And there's even voices in Germany, unfortunately I have to say this, that go even further. The youth organization of Angela Merkel's conservative party called for the relocation of the German embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of Jerusalem as the indivisible capital of Israel. So pouring further oil into the fire and doing something that actually is a Trump policy. So going fully Trump, that's the conservative youth in Germany. I think this is all very irresponsible and of course with Meta 25 in Germany, we're working against that. And Jacqueline earlier asked in the chat, can you still openly talk about Israel committing war crimes in Germany? I think you can, but if you have a certain job like in a public institution, it can get you fired. And I think that's something that we need to also say openly that, yeah, this is unfortunately the case. Last point, there was someone saying there had been huge demonstrations in every capital around the world. Not every, Lukas already described how they were unfortunately so far forbidden in Berlin. But we hope this will change. We recently had an interview with the organization Jewish Voice for Peace for our German YouTube channel. So check that out if you understand German. And this organization works with Palestinian organizations and we're also in touch with them to organize a big demonstration, hopefully that will not be forbidden on the 4th of November at Alexanderplatz. So look out for that if you're in Berlin. And thank you. Thank you for that, Johannes. Some last comments from the chat. Flying Snow says, what about all UN resolutions against Israel which remain unfulfilled and unrecognized without any punishment? Common Goose notes that the Scottish foreign ministers often to take in Palestinian refugees. He or she says, I don't want Palestinians to be displaced, but I thought that that was a good announcement that should be followed by other European countries. And Philip Blair reminds us that silence is complicity when we know what is happening. Some quick breaking news that's just come out as we're talking, that's why it's breaking news. Israel's ambassador to the UN has apparently called on the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Gutierrez to resign over his comments that Hamas's attacks did not happen in a vacuum. Israel's foreign minister announces they're stopping contact with the UN. So the plot thickens. Yes, I do. I want to close with you, Yanis. So the floor is yours. I have a comment on this breaking news story. Effectively, what Israel is doing, the Israeli government, is blackmailing the United Nations, saying that unless you give us carte blanche to commit war crimes, unless you wipe clean the historical record from the 1940s to the 7th of December, unless you, the United Nations, declare that this was an unprovoked attack, that nothing had happened before that. There was no ethnic cleansing, no apartheid. We shall leave the United Nations. We should sever our links with the United Nations. I think this is a time for the community of the United Nations to expel the state of Israel from the United Nations. Period. Thank you for that, Yanis. Okay. With that, we will need to close. If you like anything that you've heard here today and you've been part of the chat or just following along and watching us and you'd like to get more involved, then there's one address. It's dm25.org slash join. We are going to be running in European elections and other elections. We have got a movement, policy development, plenty of different activist activities on the ground, organizing protest, joining protest. Please join us and you can get stuck in. It'll just take a few seconds to become a member. If you'd like to sign our petition, which is a simple, light way of getting involved with us, then go to dm25.org slash Ursula and call for her resignation for the reasons that we have detailed over the last hour. And with that, I thank our panel. I thank you out there again for your comments and for watching us and join us at the same time, same place.


J-E-L-L-O! The Jell-O program starring Jack Benny with Mary Livingston and Phil Harris in his orchestra. The orchestra opens the program with paint no use. Here's something that's most unusual, the sort of thing that doesn't happen often. Back in 1919, Jell-O received a fine letter of praise for Mrs. Ray T. Thorne of New York City. And now, 17 years later, we hear from Mrs. Thorne again. She's a real friend of Jell-O. Just listen to what she says. Some 17 years ago, I wrote to you telling how much our family enjoyed Jell-O. And how Tommy, then seven, had rushed to the kitchen and scrolled Jell-O on the order list. I thought you might be interested to know that we still use only Jell-O. And that the Tommy of my first letter is now a naval aviator, but still a Jell-O fan. While he was playing football in college, he came home from practice every day to raid the icebox. If he found no Jell-O, a whale of huge proportions went up. One night when I had the entire squad for dinner, Tom asked me to serve Jell-O and the training coach heartily approved. So I want to thank you for giving me, during 30 years of housekeeping, a simple, wholesome, delightful Jell-Oton dessert. No other compares with Jell-O. That's fine, Mrs. Thorne. Your letter means a lot to us. Many, many thanks for sending it. There aren't many products that can boast such loyalty as yours. And here's wishing you and your aviator son all the luck in the world. Now we bring to you the man who returned to the air last Sunday with a deluge of merriment, a gale of laughter and a worried look, Jack Benny. Me worried. Well, Jell-O again, folks, is a Jack Benny who wasn't a bit more nervous last Sunday than he is right now. Oh, no. That was the first time that I ever saw you so jittery. An old trooper like you. Well, after all, Don, it was our opening program. Well, that was nothing to get excited about.  No, not much. You were stammering so much before you got through Jell-O had 12 delicious flavors. Well, that's twice as good as ever before. Yes, and twice as stammering for me there. Well, I can't argue with you there, but Don, seriously, did you hear any reports on last week's program? You know, any comments? Well, no, Jack, but I happen to have a few clippings with me. Here's one from the San Francisco Examiner. Oh, the Examiner. Let's see it. Hmm, Sunday radio reviews. A Manhattan merry-go-round, very good. Phil Baker, excellent. Eddie Cander, great. Jack Benny, 8.30 to 9. Now, that's quite a notice. Not a rave, but at least it isn't a panning. Any other growing reports, Don? Oh, yes. Here's one from a local paper, Jack. Read it. Hmm, with a big headline, no less. Well, Jack Benny's first program goes over with a thud. You must have thought it was our thud program. It was our fuss. Well, what else does it say, sir? It says, all in all, Benny's humor shows the most complete display of brass that this critic ever heard. Brass, he must be talking about the band. I'll have to speak to Phil Harris about that. Did you call me, Jack? No, Phil. I was just talking to Don about our fuss program. Have you heard any reports on it? Nothing to speak of. I see. But say, Phil, I did hear some awfully nice things about you. Thanks, Jack. I hear some awfully things about you, too. Now, read that right. Oh, pardon me.  He's just a little excited, folks.  You were shaking, so I don't see how you ever managed to lead your orchestra. Oh, it was easy, Jack. I just grabbed my baton real tight, and my nerves did the rest. Well, you deserve a lot of credit. Come in. Telegraph of Jack Benny. Oh, thank you. Gee, this isn't going on all day, folks. Oh, Don, listen to this one. Heard your program last Sunday night and can appreciate how you feel. Well, who's that from, Jack? The New York Giants. It was nice of them to remember me. Oh, hello, Mary. Hello, Jack. Gee, you look so tan and ragged. Mary, you did that joke last week. Well, you still look ragged. You're starting out pretty good tonight, but at last Sunday you were plenty nervous. Who, me? Yes, you. The script in your hand was shaking like a leaf. It was not. I was waving to my mother in the third row.   Oh, then I must have been nervous. Yeah. Well, Mary, did you, uh, did you hear any, uh, we're laughing more than the audience? Mary, did you hear any comment on our show? No, Jack, but I got the loveliest telegram from a couple of sailors. Imagine. Sailors? Oh, Navy boys, huh? Uh-huh. Listen to this. Heard you on Jack Benny's broadcast last Sunday night and thought you were wonderful. Signed, Seaman Seaman. Seaman? That's Seamone Seaman. Seamone. Seamone. Seamone. Oh, they were seasick. Yeah, yeah. Hey, Jack. Oh, hello, Kenny. Hey, you're here alone tonight. Where's your girl? Which one?  Oh, the dopey one. Yeah. Well, what do you want, Kenny? Oh, a wire just came through you. Here, I opened it by mistake. That's fine. What do you mean you opened it by mistake? He thought he could read. Well, give me that wire, Kenny, and after this, be careful. Gee, he's dumber than last year. He is not. I am, too. All right. Oh, hey fellas, get this wire. Oh, boy, get this. It says, a felicitations on your debut last Sunday, repercussions of which are still reverberating. Your nonchalant and savoir-faire dominated the festivities throughout. Cease. Accept my sincere approbation. Who's that from, Jack? Freddie Bartholomew. Wasn't that sweet? Well, somebody likes to play, Phil. That was Sing, Sing, Sing, played by Phil, Phil, Phil Harris, and his orchestra. And very good. Thanks, thanks, thanks. Well, we went semen one better, there, I think. But, Phil, I notice you're still a little nervous. Well, to tell you the truth, Jack, I invited two of my girlfriends up to see the broadcast. And they're sitting in the front row, and, well, naturally, I'm a little self-conscious. Oh, well, I know how you feel. You see, I asked some girls up to the broadcast tonight, myself. I invited Claudette Colbert, Joan Bennett, and Carol Lombard. Yes, I noticed those three bacon seats. Well, you know how heavy traffic is today. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, as we announced last Sunday, this evening, we are going to offer our condensed best pocket edition of that famous classic, Anthony adverse, written by Herbie Allen, produced by the Warner Brothers, directed by Mervyn Leroy. And she was by I. Miller. Yeah, quiet. We begin our play with Anthony at the age of 10. Since I'm just a boy at heart, I will play the part of Anthony the youth. Anthony. Also, The Man, as played by Frederick March. Mary Livingston will be Angela, my childhood sweetheart. Kenny Baker will be my servant when I get to Africa. Oh, Kenny. Yes, Jay. Here's your accent. Yeah, the ball's so nice. Very good, Amos. Owing to the unusual length of our play, we will start it immediately after the next number, which will be sung by Kenny Baker. And meanwhile, I'll try and get young for my part. Yeah, I hope you get Robert Young. That's why. Sing, Kenny. Yeah, I wonder where I put my romper. The night was filled with sweet surrender. I had a million things to say. We shared the moon in all its splendor. You pressed your lips to mine. And by without you. And just how mad about you. As Kenny Baker is singing, did I remember from the motion picture, Susie? And now for our play, Anthony adverse. The locale is Leghorn, Italy in the year 1773. The scene opens in the shipping firm of John Bonnyfeather, known as the Casa de Bonnyfeather. You see, in those days, everybody had a Casa. Are you going to have a Casa, Jack? Yes. Jack Asser. All right, let's get into the mood. Italy, 1773. Anthony adverse. Curtain, light, music. Casa de Bonnyfeather. Yes, Mr. Bonnyfeather is in that you can't talk to him. The telephone hasn't been invented yet, dope. Call back in a hundred years. What's that? Oh, wait a minute. Come in. Hello. Hello, little boy. What you doing? I'm answering a telephone that hasn't been invented yet. Why? I don't know. I must be nuts. What can I do for you, little boy? I'm looking for work. I'd like to get a job here. Sorry, we're not hiring any sopranos. I'm not a soprano.  An orphan, eh? What's your name? Anthony. Oh, little orphan, Anthony. Have you ever worked before? Oh, Orphanon. Oh, here comes Mr. Bonnyfeather. He's a nice old Scotchman and you can talk to him. Oh, thank you. Ah, good morning, Les. Good morning, Lady. Good morning.  Who are you, Lady, and what brings you here? I'm Anthony, sir, ten years old and looking for work. Work? Yes, don't tell me that hasn't been invented yet.  Anthony, what is your last name? I haven't any, sir. Well, Lady, I'll get you a name. I and a job, too. I've got an eye. I know I'll put you to work in the accounting department. Anthony, do you know arithmetic? Oh, sure. I can count up to ten. Up to twenty with my shoes off. Well, I'll try you out first in subtraction. Okie-dokie. Now, Anthony, what is two from twelve? One. What is three from twelve? One. What is four from twelve? One on stubborn, ain't I? You certainly are. All right, what is two from three? Twelve. Terrible. Well, I may subtract terrible, Mr. Bonnyfeather, but I adverse. Ah, adverse. That's it. That's what we'll call you. Anthony adverse. Anthony adverse. Anthony adverse. Now and forever. Anthony, I see a great future in store for you. You will travel to strange places and see strange lands.  See, I can hardly wait. Lying in the bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, lying in the bridge is falling down, et cetera. Who is that? That's little Angela, the crook's daughter. Come here, my child. I want you to meet someone. This is Anthony. Hello, Angela. Hello. How old are you, Anthony? Ten. So am I. You're cute, and you've got the nicest gray hair. Say, I've got plenty of worries, believe me. Well, children, I have work to do, so just run around and play. See that, Mr. Bonnyfeather's awfully nice. He's a Scotchman, isn't he? Yes, he is, and he's wasting a lot of ours. And speaking of Scotchman, you will find the Jell-O, too, is economical. With its six delicious flavors, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, arrrrrr, plain, lemon, and lime. I'm sorry Wilson was invented. Oh, Angela, you're so beautiful and so sweet. Will you marry me? Why, Anthony, we're only ten years old. Well, I'll fix that. Time marches on. Ten years later. Angela, will you marry me? Will you, Angela? Yes.  I'm, I'm sorry, I got a bad cold. But I'm all right now. Oh, then you will accept me, Angela. Yes. There I go again. Angela, I'm so happy. Come, sweetheart, we'll be married at once. Anthony. Angela. Oh, Angela, at last you are mine. And we will never be separated. Never. Oh, Anthony, Anthony. You must leave here immediately. I'm sending you on a special mission to Havana to collect some money that is owed to me. Havana? Aye, lad, you must contact Carlos Cebo, a wealthy Cuban. He's a celebrity customer, but I want my money. What does he do? He runs a sugar plantation. Good, I'll try and get a lump sum. Angela, be brave. I must leave you at once. All right. Ah, poor Angela, what will you do all the time I'm away? I can't get along. That's what I'm afraid of. Now, goodbye, darling. I'll see you in five or 10 years. Goodbye, lover. Goodbye, Mr. Bonnyfeather. Goodbye, Anthony. Don't forget that lump sum. I won't. Will you miss me, Angela? Yes. Gee, I'll be lump sum. Well, goodbye. Goodbye. I'm off to Cuba. Cuba, that's where he's going. Cuba, that's where he'll stay. Cuba, where wine is flowing. Anthony adverse is now on his way to Cuba and will arrive there immediately after the next number. Play, Phil. Twenty years have elapsed and we find Anthony adverse arriving in Cuba. His boat has just docked midscenes of Cuban revelry. Goodbye, Captain. Goodbye, Mr. adverse. La cucaracha, la cucaracha, gangue. I'm looking for Mr. Advoy. Ah, Mr. Advoy. Yes, are you Carlo Sibo, the Cuban? Amaya Cuban is asking. Welcome to Havana, my friend. ¿Cómo estás, señor? Estoy muy bienogracias, amigo mío. Ha, ha, ha. You said it. You know why I'm here? Sure. Mr. Bonifeder wrote me, so I want you to be my guest. Thank you. I want you to stay in Cuba should be our pleasure. Don't be afraid to ask for anything. Everything I got is yours. What have you got? Nothing. I see. Now listen, Carlos, you owe Mr. Bonifeder a lot of money and I'm here to collect it. Take it easy, Anthony. Stay here with me. You will go out to make boopies. Listen, I don't do that kind of stuff. Come on, come on. Now first you'll have to get some new clothes. New clothes? Why? I'm a tailor. Now listen, Carlos, let's settle this debt right now so I can get back to my wife. Five downs, boopsy. First, let's have something to eat. I prepared a special breakfast yesterday. Hmm, it must be cold by now. Don't worry, it's heavy. Now quit calling. I can't go back to Mr. Bonifeder without that money. I ain't got it. But if you would like to take a trip to Africa, I've got there a piece of property that's A number one. It's a rubber plantation. Oh, so you're in the rubber business, eh? I thought you were a tailor. That's me, Robert Taylor. And you say if I go to Africa, that plantation will belong to me? Take it, my friend, that's yours. All right, I'll go. Adios, Carlos. Adios. Bonifeder. I'm off to Africa. Africa, that's where he's going. Africa, that's where he'll stay. Africa, where are you going? Ten years later, and we find Anthony in darkest Africa, where he has become the owner of a rubber plantation in the jungle. He is plagued with fever, drunk with power, and mad with greed. Africa, Anthony Atverson. Hey, guys. What's that infernal noise? Come on, you slaves. Get busy there. Cut that rubber. Pull that barge. Toast that bale.  Hey, boss. Yeah? What do you want? Uba, guba, gluba, gluno, glunosau. Oh, yeah? Well, why don't you do something about it? I don't know what it means. That's why. I want a drink. Where's my man Friday? Friday. What's that, boss?  No, sir. I'm your chocolate sundae. Well, give me a drink. I'm getting drunk with power.   Oh, I ain't got no heart. I ain't got no conscience. I ain't got no soul. Have you got a match? Oh, this sun, this heat, this infernal jungle. Quiet! Hey, quiet, you slaves. Ouch, that whip is always getting caught in my leg. But I can take it. What's the matter with the balls, man? He must be delirious. Better bring him some water. That's what I want. Water. Water. Everything is going black. Look, he's faded. Two from 12 is one. Three from 12 is one. Four from 12 is one. Gee, I'm still stubborn. Anthony Atverson. That's what we'll call him. Anthony Atverson. Anthony, Anthony. Aha! Welcome, my friend, to Havana. How did he get here? Oh, this jungle. This heat. I can't think. I can't eat. I can't sleep. You can't act either. Angela, my wife! What are you doing here? Don't bother, it's just a dream. Oh, yeah? Wait a minute. What about that man in your arms? Is he a dream, too? Is he? Wow! Angela! Angela! Back to Angela, my wife! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Now you can make luscious homemade chocolate pudding more easily and more economically than ever before and all because of jello chocolate pudding. It's a brand new product and one you'll welcome with open arms. For jello chocolate pudding gives you smoother, creamier puddings, more chocolatey and more delicious than any you've tasted since your grandmother used to make them. This is how you make yours. Just mix the contents of one package of jello chocolate pudding with some milk in the top of your double boiler. Then let it cook until it becomes smooth and thick. After the mixture's cooled, serve it in sherbet glasses and watch the faces of your family light up the minute they taste it. Real old-fashioned chocolate pudding made with very little trouble and very little expense. Jello chocolate pudding sells for the same low price as jello and one package makes six servings. Ask your grocer for jello chocolate pudding in the morning and if he hasn't put it in stock yet, make sure he orders it for you. This is the last number of the second program in the New Jello series and I hope you'll all be listening in next Sunday night when we offer our second episode of Anthony adverse. The part of John Bonnie Feather was played by Charles Irwin and Carlos Siebel, the Cuban, was played by Paxie Flick through the courtesy of Warner Brothers. Jack, don't you want to say something? Good night, folks. J-E-L-L-O The Jello program starring Jack Benning at Barry Livingston was a red network presentation of the NBC studios in Hollywood. The tune, When I'm With You, is from the score of the picture Poor Little Rich Girl. This is the national broadcasting company.


Right next to the Aldi here, we got a Lidl going up in Eastern PA. That's kind of big news for people who like this supermarket, especially if you live in the western half of Jersey.  This is really good news for people in the western half of Jersey. I don't know when this Lidl in Eastern PA is opening up, but it's really good news for people who like this store. Again, it's across the street from the Aldi out there, which is going to suffer. Maybe not. Who knows. They'll wonder when they're going to open, and that's going to be Eastern Lidl.


Lieutenant Governor Stack, Speaker Terzai, President Scarnati, Leader Corman, Leader Costa, Leader Reed, Leader Dermotty, members of the General Assembly, members of the Judiciary, members of the Cabinet. Like to recognize the Auditor General, the Attorney General, and the Treasurer, and also my wife, Francis. Most importantly, my fellow Pennsylvanians. This will not be an ordinary Governor's budget address. Usually this speech is an opportunity to lay out an ambitious agenda for the year ahead. Under ordinary circumstances, I'd outline my 2016-17 budget proposal, a proposal full of ideas to move our common wealth forward. I talk about new measures I'm proposing to ensure that every child in Pennsylvania has a world-class education that starts before kindergarten and goes all the way through college. I talk about the new partnerships we can create between the public and private sectors to help create jobs and grow our economy. I talk about the new innovations that can build on the progress we've already made in modernizing our state government so that it works better and costs less. And I talk about some long-overdue steps that we can take to help our common wealth fulfill the promise of equal opportunity and economic security for all, including protections for the LGBT community in housing and the workplace, the legalization of medical marijuana, a raise in the minimum wage, and criminal justice reform that will bring fairness back to our system and save tax dollars. But I can't give that speech, not under these circumstances. My fellow Pennsylvanians, our common wealth is in crisis, a crisis that threatens our future. And today, I want to be clear with each member of the General Assembly and with every Pennsylvanian about the actions we must take to resolve this crisis and the consequences that we'll face, all of us, if we don't. First let me be very clear about the nature of the problem. The problem is not that Republicans in the General Assembly and I don't see eye-to-eye. After all, Pennsylvanians are used to seeing political leaders disagree even strongly. And in 2014, in that election, the people of Pennsylvania chose divided government, a Democratic governor, a Republican legislature. And I doubt anybody was surprised when it turned out that we have different priorities. No, this crisis is not about politics at all. This is about math. Pennsylvania now faces a $2 billion budget deficit. That's not a Democratic fact, and that's not a Republican fact. It's just a fact. It's a fact supported by standard and poorest, an independent rating agency. They've done the math, and they agree Pennsylvania faces a massive structural budget deficit that will only continue to grow if we fail to address it responsibly. This deficit isn't just a cloud hanging over Pennsylvania's long-term future. It's a time bomb, and it's ticking away right now, even as I speak. If it explodes, the people in this chamber, if you allow it to explode, then Pennsylvania will experience a fiscal catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen. Please understand, we're not talking about a long-term budget projection. We're talking about Pennsylvania failing to meet its basic obligations this year. We're talking about pain that will be felt all across our Commonwealth this year. If the General Assembly does not approve a responsible plan to solve this crisis, every Pennsylvania will suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be real. They will be immediate, and they will be severe. Nearly three-quarters of Pennsylvania homeowners will see their already-too-high property taxes skyrocket even further. If a member of this body were to stand up and propose a tax increase on property taxes, a property tax increase, he or she would be boot off the floor by both Democrats and Republicans. But in fact, that is exactly what will happen if we do not act. We have seen this play out over the last four years. Since 2011, school districts have been forced to increase local property taxes by $1.2 billion, all because of our irresponsibility right here in Harrisburg. In the last year alone, 83 school districts increased property taxes above the index because Harrisburg did not produce a responsible budget, and another 175 school districts are contemplating additional tax increases this year for the same reason. This tax shifting is not sustainable, and it will only continue to squeeze families and seniors if we do not stop passing the buck onto local communities. Meanwhile, even as Pennsylvanians will pay more, they will get less from their state government. Far less. For example, our education system, already threadbare after years of underfunding at the state level, will take a ruinous hit. Thousands of teachers will be laid off. Guidance and career counselors will be handed pink slips. In all, more than 23,000 education professionals will be immediately yanked out of Pennsylvania schools. Across Pennsylvania, already crowded classrooms will become even more so. Class sizes will balloon by 30 percent to account for all those teacher layoffs. Worse, the consequences will not be evenly distributed. Classroom crowding will be more severe in the schools that can least afford it. But all across our commonwealth, our children, all children, will receive less attention, less instructional time, less opportunity to gain the skills we all need them to have for the 21st century. Technical education, those programs will be cut. Special education programs, they'll be cut. Headstart programs, cut. And tens of thousands of Pennsylvania children will lose access to pre-kindergarten, depriving them of the early childhood education that we all know is key to their future success. This is not a threat. This is not political posturing. This is simply what the math tells us will happen if this crisis is not resolved. This is the reality that teachers and parents and children in our commonwealth will face if the General Assembly does not act, and the damage will not be limited to our schools. Basic state services will also face devastating cuts. We will lose nearly $200 million in services to Pennsylvania seniors, including prescription drug assistance and home and community-based services. Pennsylvania seniors who depend on that assistance will be forced to pay more out of pocket. Some will have to choose between paying for groceries and paying for the medicine that keeps them alive. These are our elderly parents. These are our neighbors. And they're counting on this funding to pay for the medicine they need. But if we don't have a budget, we can't help. We'll lose $180 million in assistance for people living with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. These Pennsylvanians are the most vulnerable among us, and they are counting on our help to live full lives and contribute fully to their communities. But if we don't have a budget, they'll be denied significant opportunities to improve their lives. We'll lose $40 million in state funding for childcare, and thus forfeit nearly another $50 million in federal matching funds for a total cut of nearly $90 million. It's hundreds of thousands of working parents are counting on our help to have some peace of mind and the ability to earn the living upon which they can raise their families. But if we don't have a budget, 211,000 Pennsylvania children will have nowhere to go. We'll lose $11.5 million in funding for domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers. Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault rely on these safe havens to have somewhere to go in the midst of unthinkable pain and unspeakable terror. But if we don't have a budget, those shelters and crisis centers, they're going to have to shut their doors to the people who need them. Critical programs such as these make up nearly three-quarters of our human services budget. Simply put, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cannot meet its obligation to its citizens if the General Assembly does not meet its obligation to pass a responsible budget. And while my administration will always strive to tackle fraud and be as efficient as possible in the government operations, even these new harsh, these harsh cuts that we're talking about here that you're talking about, that cuts, they're going to harm single mothers, they're going to harm seniors on fixed incomes, and those who are down on their luck, even those cuts will not solve our mathematical crisis. Indeed, anyone in this chamber who claims we can simply cut our way out of this mess without also increasing revenue is just ignoring the math. They're also ignoring history. If we don't have sustainable revenue sources in our budget, the result will be billions of dollars in new property tax hikes at the local level. Pennsylvanians need to prepare for these consequences, and I don't say this with any joy whatsoever. But someone in Harrisburg has to start telling the people of Pennsylvania the truth about the mess we're in. You know, before I ran for governor, I ran a business. And in challenging times, I know that you can be fiscally responsible while still looking out for the people you serve. These values are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they're closely linked. And if you're in business and the numbers don't add up, you can't ignore the problem or wish it away or spin it away. You have to take a clear-eyed look at how the problem arose, and then you have to solve it, and fast, or you won't be in business for very long. Pennsylvania businesses don't have the luxury of pretending their problems don't exist. Neither do Pennsylvania families, sitting around the kitchen table trying to make ends meet. And the truth is, neither do we here in Harrisburg. So let's be honest about where we are and how we got here. After all, this fiscal crisis did not appear from out of nowhere. This was no act of God. We are in a hole. We dug ourselves right here in Harrisburg. And if the consequences I'm describing sound familiar, it's because Pennsylvania has been building up to this moment for years. For years, our leaders have tried to balance our state budget on the backs of our children and our schools. When I took office, Pennsylvania ranked near the bottom of the country in the percentage of state-level K-12 investment. The burden of funding our schools therefore fell on our local communities. And that, in turn, meant huge spikes in property taxes for Pennsylvania homeowners. That's a bad way to solve a budget problem. Although it's a great way to create an education problem, we were left with tens of thousands of teachers laid off, crowded classrooms across most of our school districts. And that was just part of the problem. You see, even these huge cuts to education weren't really enough to balance the budget. But instead of finding a sustainable way to deal with the real deficit, Harrisburg chose to paper over the problem with a series of budgetary gimmicks and quick fixes. Now, maybe you can get away with that for a little while. But sooner or later, the rent comes due. And if folks here in Harrisburg thought this sleight of hand was a real long-term solution to our budget problem, then the only people they were fooling were themselves. Because nobody else bought it. The three major ratings agencies, Fitch, Moody's, again Standard and Poor's, they have each downgraded our credit a total of five times over the last five years. Our credit has actually been downgraded three times in the last two years alone. And each time, each time, the rating agencies have explained that the downgrades are a direct result of these little tricks Pennsylvania has employed to avoid facing up to the reality of its fiscal situation. When Harrisburg doesn't take our budget seriously, the folks who rate our debt, well, they don't take Harrisburg seriously. So today, because of years of budgetary irresponsibility, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is considered to be among the least credit-worthy states in America. This is embarrassing. But embarrassment isn't the only point. You see, because our credit has been downgraded so much, we're actually paying a higher interest rate on that $17 billion of debt that we have. This is going to eventually cost us an extra $139 million a year. That's if the interest rates don't keep going up. That's $139 million a year that doesn't go to improving our schools. It doesn't go to making our business environment more competitive. It doesn't go to reducing our taxes. It's a $139 million penalty that the people of Pennsylvania pay for Harrisburg's fiscal irresponsibility. That's how we got here. And it's why, when I took office last year, I proposed a different kind of budget. Instead of shortchanging our schools, I proposed a historic commitment to education, beginning to restore the $1 billion that had been cut from our schools under the previous administration, making new investments in early childhood education and community colleges, increasing our state's share of funding for public schools and directing more of that funding to the districts that needed it most. And instead of using sleight of hand to avoid dealing with the deficit, I proposed a serious plan to balance our budget and set us on a more sustainable course. No more gimmicks, no more quick fixes. A new approach in Harrisburg, a fresh start for Pennsylvania. Now, I expected that Republicans would not agree to everything in my proposed budget. What I didn't expect was what I got. A budget that didn't even balance. Incredibly, the budget that they sent me relied on the same gimmicks and quick fixes that had gotten us in trouble in the first place. In that case, the June 30th budget, $1.5 billion worth of optical illusions that would have made our actual budget problem even worse. If you were running a business and you took a budget like that to your banker, you would be laughed out of the room. But Pennsylvania's creditors, unfortunately, don't have a sense of humor about this sort of thing. Actually, neither should we. While I was disappointed with the Republicans' proposal, I wasn't discouraged. So I came to the table ready to talk, ready to negotiate, ready to compromise. It took months of bargaining. It took some painful sacrifices from both sides. But in the end, all that hard work paid off. We had a deal. The compromise budget I worked at with members of the legislature last year included some of the things that I wanted, but not everything. But it did have an historic investment in our schools. It included some of the things that the Republicans wanted, but not everything, including changes to our pension and liquor systems. And I continue to believe that we should solve these decades-old problems. We still need changes that provide taxpayers' savings and stability in our pension system. And we need to bring our liquor system into the 21st century. Okay, that's one person. However, these improvements by themselves are not magic bullets. And changes in these two programs will not alone mitigate the consequences of a continued failure to acknowledge the basic math problem we face. Again, the compromise budget included these Republican priorities. But most important of all, the compromise budget balanced. It solved the financial problem. Passing it into law would diffuse the fiscal time bomb and set us on a more sustainable course. It passed the Senate with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans and had bipartisan support in the House. All that was, all that remained was a final vote before I could sign it into law and we could finally move forward. I was ready, pen in hand. And then the House Republican leaders just walked away. They walked away from the table and went home for the holidays without holding that final vote. They still have not held that final vote. Listen, I understand the frustration you almost feel looking at this huge mathematical problem. But yelling it will not make it go away. Wishing it will not make it go away. We need to do what's right for the people of Pennsylvania. Budget because we still have a budget crisis. That fiscal time bomb, it's still ticking. Our teachers still hear it. Our parents hear it. Our seniors hear it. Our creditors definitely hear it. You need to hear it. The time for games is over and now it's time to finish the job we should have finished last year. Now look, arguments over policy priorities, again, I get it. They're healthy. It entails disagreement. Compromise is hard. But we had those arguments. We worked out our disagreements. We reached a compromise. Republicans and Democrats sitting in this chamber right now sat at a table with me and did the hard work to find common ground. We had a deal. And then the House Republican leaders walked away. Only in Harrisburg could that be seen as an acceptable way to do business. But you know what? I'm not interested in the inner workings of the Republican caucus. I'm not interested in politics. This isn't about politics. This, again, is about mathematics. And so here's what's real. It's about mathematics. And here's what's really, really frustrating. When some Republican leaders bailed in our agreement, I was handed yet another budget where the numbers didn't add up. A budget that would cut another $95 million from our schools. A budget that would zero out funding increases for our institutions of higher education. And worst of all, a budget that still did not balance. We are sitting at the bottom, folks, of a $2 billion hole. It's simply unbelievable that some folks in this chamber want to address that problem by continuing to dig. I can agree and I can accept that we can disagree about the importance of education. I get that. I can accept that we can disagree about the proper role of government in securing a more prosperous future for our commonwealth. And I can accept that I won't get everything my way. But I cannot accept. And Pennsylvania cannot afford another irresponsible budget that ignores the fact of this fiscal crisis and pretends that our problems simply don't exist. I did not run for this office to be party to the corner cutting and budget gimmickry that got us into this mess.  There is simply too much at stake. The train has been careening down the tracks for years and now the moment of impact has arrived. And whether or not we crash is up to the people in this chamber. It's up to the people in this chamber to save our children, to save our seniors, to save our most vulnerable populations from bearing the brunt of devastating cuts. It's up to the people in this chamber to save our taxpayers at the local levels from getting handed the bills. Harrisburg wasn't responsible enough to pay right here. It's up to the people in this chamber to save Pennsylvania's future. It's time for the people in this chamber to get back to work. The good news is I still have my pen. And we still have a budget that reflects months of hard work and honest negotiation. A budget that has been approved by bipartisan majorities in both chambers of our legislature. A budget that avert this fiscal catastrophe and gives us a chance at a fresh start. We can get it done. Send that compromise budget to my desk and we can put our commonwealth on more secure footing than it's been for years. But let me be very, very clear with each of you. We are going to have to stop playing games with our fiscal future.  We are going to have to face hard facts.  Don't send me another budget where the numbers really, really don't add up. I'm not gonna be amused by that. I'm not gonna be fooled by that. I will not be convinced that dime store magic tricks are a substitute for a real responsible budget. And more importantly, and more importantly, neither will our creditors nor the people of Pennsylvania. If you can't agree to the budget reforms I've proposed then help me find a sustainable alternative. But if you won't face up to the reality of the situation we're in, if you ignore that time bomb ticking, if you won't take seriously your responsibility to the people of Pennsylvania and find another job. This, this is not the time for denial. This is not the time for obstruction. This is the time for leaders to come together and honestly and sincerely take on the crisis we're facing. Because if we don't solve this crisis, whatever partisan gain you think you may win will be dwarfed by the enormous losses this state will suffer. Nobody in Pennsylvania will care one iota about the politics of a disaster that caused the Commonwealth so much. I refuse to let that happen but I cannot stop this catastrophe alone. The people of Pennsylvania need you to do the right thing. I'm not asking people in this chamber to give up their political beliefs. I am asking that you join me in mustering the political courage to meet this crisis head on. I am asking that they do their job, that you live up to the promise to uphold the constitution that we all took to defend the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's constitution. That's what we all did when we took our oath of office. This doesn't require anyone to walk away from his or her principles. It merely requires that each of us declare that our highest principle is the responsibility each of us has to the people of Pennsylvania. The people of Pennsylvania deserves schools that teach, jobs that pay, and a government that works for them. They deserve leaders who are willing to work hard and sacrifice to build a better Commonwealth because that's what the people of Pennsylvania do every day to build a better life for their families. Their strength, their resilience, their spirit illuminates our path forward and gives me hope that when I stand in this chamber to give my budget address next year, it will be under far happier circumstances. After all, I ran for this office because I believe deeply in our Commonwealth, in our spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, in our longstanding tradition of tackling our challenges and seizing our opportunities with boldness and courage, with integrity and honesty, in our potential to build a bright future as bright and prosperous as our past. I know that many of you entered public service for the same reasons. And last December, a number of Republicans and Democrats came together to prove that there are leaders in this body who can put their differences aside and get things done. After a year as governor, despite the overwhelming challenge we now face, I still believe in Pennsylvania. The possibilities before us, they're still limitless. A bright future is still within our grasp. I still believe in the enormous potential of our Commonwealth. And I'm counting on everyone in this chamber, everyone to do the right thing so that we can fulfill that potential. I'm ready to do the hard work to build a brighter future for Pennsylvania. I hope you're ready to join me. Thank you. God bless the Commonwealth for Pennsylvania.