{"id":43905,"date":"2025-09-13T13:28:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=43905"},"modified":"2025-09-13T13:28:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:28:36","slug":"mehdi-hasan-on-death-of-two-state-solution-possible-u-s-war-with-venezuela-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/13\/mehdi-hasan-on-death-of-two-state-solution-possible-u-s-war-with-venezuela-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Mehdi Hasan on Death of Two-State Solution, Possible U.S. War with Venezuela &amp; More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 (DemocracyNow.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/shows\/2025\/9\/12?autostart=true\">Watch Full Show<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mehdi Hasan on Death of Two-State Solution, Possible U.S. War with Venezuela &amp; More\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FxhZPiFotqs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2025\/9\/12\/mehdi_hasan_2\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2025\/9\/12\/mehdi_hasan_2&amp;text=Mehdi+Hasan+on+Death+of+Two-State+Solution%2C+Possible+U.S.+War+with+Venezuela+%26+More&amp;via=democracynow&amp;lang=en\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2025\/9\/12\/mehdi_hasan_2\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/wa.me\/?text=https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2025\/9\/12\/mehdi_hasan_2\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:?body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democracynow.org%2F2025%2F9%2F12%2Fmehdi_hasan_2&amp;subject=Mehdi%20Hasan%20on%20Death%20of%20Two-State%20Solution%2C%20Possible%20U.S.%20War%20with%20Venezuela%20%26amp%3B%20More\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is viewer supported news. Please do your part today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/donate\/web-pgs\">DONATE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GUESTS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/appearances\/mehdi_hasan\">Mehdi Hasan<\/a>editor-in-chief and&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>Zeteo<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LINKS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/zeteo.com\/\">Zeteo<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Democracy Now!<\/em>&nbsp;speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>Zeteo<\/em>, about Israel\u2019s recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. \u201cThey are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen,\u201d says Hasan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. \u201cThere\u2019s no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcript<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;I wanted to switch gears a bit, although, I mean, there are, of course, connections. You have the latest news, where the Israeli prime minister also talked about Charlie Kirk as \u2014&nbsp;I think he called him \u201ca lionhearted friend of Israel\u201d who \u201cfought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization,\u201d he said. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces rounded up over 1,500 Palestinians in Tulkarem Thursday, ordering a curfew for the city\u2019s residents. The crackdown came as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu approved a plan to dramatically expand illegal West Bank settlements, greenlighting the construction of 3,400 new homes on land Palestinians want for a future state. Netanyahu spoke at a signing ceremony Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>PRIME&nbsp;MINISTER&nbsp;BENJAMIN&nbsp;NETANYAHU:<\/strong>&nbsp;[translated] We said there would not be a Palestinian state, and we say again there won\u2019t be a Palestinian state. \u2026 This place is ours. We will take care of our country and our security and our heritage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;So, you have Netanyahu at the signing ceremony saying that he would \u2014&nbsp;there is no place for a Palestinian state. Your response, Mehdi Hasan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MEHDI&nbsp;HASAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;One of the only good things, Amy, about this Israeli government, which is the most far-right, racist, genocidal government in Israel\u2019s history, which is saying a lot \u2014&nbsp;one of the only good things about this Israeli government is that they just \u2014&nbsp;you know, they say the quiet part out loud. They do say what they\u2019re thinking. They do say what they mean and mean what they say. So, when they say there will be no Palestinian state, that\u2019s the truth. They don\u2019t plan to have a Palestinian state. They are opposed to a Palestinian state, which is much more refreshingly honest than some of those Israelis in the past who have said, \u201cOh, yeah, we support a two-state solution,\u201d while carrying on building the same settlements that Netanyahu and Smotrich and co. are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It just reminds us of how much gaslighting, Amy, there is in this country, in our media, in our Congress, where Democrats, in particular, hide behind the two-state solution crutch. \u201cOh, yes, my solution, a two-state solution.\u201d Well, there is no two-state solution. The Israeli government says there is no two-state solution. They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen, practically, by, you know, cutting up the land, building Israeli settlements that will prevent the establishment of any future Palestinian state. So, in that sense, you know, thank you, Netanyahu, for saying what we already knew, that you are someone who\u2019s opposed to a Palestinian state, who has blocked a Palestinian state multiple times, including right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, Amy, I should also point out, Bezalel Smotrich is the one who announced those settlements in the West Bank, and Netanyahu is now echoing what Smotrich says. Again, there\u2019s a faction in this country that wants to say, \u201cOh, ignore Smotrich. He\u2019s just a fringe figure.\u201d No, Bezalel Smotrich is the finance minister of Israel. He\u2019s in control of the West Bank. And what he\u2019s doing, Netanyahu is following. So this is the entire Israeli government. This is their worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, you mentioned 1,500 people taken in the West Bank. And there\u2019s a word for that. It\u2019s called \u201chostages.\u201d There are Palestinian hostages being held by Israel without charge, disappeared. No one knows where they are. They\u2019ve committed no crimes. They are hostages in the same way that the people Hamas took were hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;I wanted to also switch to another issue. Last week, the U.S. attacked a boat in the southern Caribbean, killing at least 11 people. President Trump claimed the boat was carrying drugs from Venezuela, but offered no proof. The Pentagon recently sent warships to the region, after Trump secretly authorized use of military force in Latin America under the guise of the \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d In response, Congressmember Ilhan Omar has introduced a new War Powers Resolution seeking to block the Trump administration from conducting future military strikes in the Caribbean. This is Congressmember Omar speaking to you, Mehdi, Thursday in a&nbsp;<em>Zeteo<\/em>&nbsp;town hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>REP.&nbsp;ILHAN&nbsp;OMAR:<\/strong>&nbsp;It is Congress that declares war, and we have not been given that, that authority, by this president. And it\u2019s, I think, really important for us to insert our authority in declaring war. What we are seeing with multiple strikes throughout the world that the president has authorized is that he does not have the authority to be able to do so, and specifically the strike that was carried out in the Caribbean against the Venezuelan vessel. I think it\u2019s important for the people to recognize that we cannot just go out and terminate people. You know, this is \u2014&nbsp;this is not something that is allowed under international law, and it\u2019s certainly not allowed under U.S. law.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;So, that\u2019s Ilhan Omar speaking to you, Mehdi. AP is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-military-drugs-boat-venezuela-5d28da68e3ea1b5b1b14829af8aadd7b\">reporting<\/a>&nbsp;the Venezuelan boat was heading back to shore when the Trump administration bombed it, and that might have been bombed twice. And the whole question being raised: If it was a drug boat, why were there so many people on it? Were these, in fact, migrants? Mehdi Hasan, the significance of what\u2019s taken place, and also the latest news that the House passed legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Iraq authorizations for use of military force, the&nbsp;AUMF, in a bipartisan \u2014&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MEHDI&nbsp;HASAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;vote Wednesday, moving against two pieces of legislation that have vastly expanded the president\u2019s ability to use military force in the U.S.\u2019s forever wars in the Middle East?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MEHDI&nbsp;HASAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, let\u2019s start with the AUMFs that you mentioned. Yes, they have been used to expand power and force of the U.S. state. They have been abused by presidents of both parties, stretched beyond all imaginable use based on the original intent of those AUMFs. I\u2019m glad they were repealed, but look at how long it took, you know, over 20 years for the \u201cwar on terror\u201d one, for the 2002 one for Iraq, over 30 years for the original Gulf War one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why I\u2019m skeptical that Ilhan Omar\u2019s War Powers Resolution will go anywhere. She\u2019s much more optimistic than I am. I interviewed her yesterday, as you showed. She thinks she\u2019ll get a lot of votes for it. Unfortunately, our Congress loves endless war. Our Congress loves to hand over its war-making power to the president, both parties. And therefore, it is very worrying when you have a president like Donald Trump in the White House and the power he has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, you know, Barack Obama, with his drone strike policy, laid the groundwork for Donald Trump\u2019s drone strike policy. Donald Trump, in his first term, actually carried out more drone strikes than Barack Obama did in his two terms. People don\u2019t know that. But, of course, all of that was set up for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And you look at that boat attack. It does look more and more like an act of mass murder, 11 people killed. We don\u2019t know their names. We don\u2019t know who they were. We don\u2019t know what they are supposedly accused of, just a generic \u201cThey are narcoterrorists. They are drug traffickers.\u201d Based on what? The whole point of the United States is that the president doesn\u2019t just get to kill people and we believe him on his say-so, especially this president, who lies about everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We just&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/05\/us\/navy-seal-north-korea-trump-2019.html\">learned<\/a>&nbsp;recently, Amy, from&nbsp;<em>The New York Times<\/em>&nbsp;that in his first term, he sent the SEALs into North Korea to plant a listening device, and those Navy SEALs ended up killing a boat full of unarmed Koreans, North Koreans, and then coming out and not telling the world, not telling the United States, not telling Congress. So, why would we believe anything Donald Trump says on the national security front? You trust you trust Marco Rubio? You trust Peter Hegseth? You trust Donald Trump? No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact,&nbsp;<em>The New York Times<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/10\/us\/trump-drug-boat-venezuela-strike.html\">reporting<\/a>&nbsp;this week that the boat was turning around, and they still attacked it. This was a boat that was 2,000 miles away from the U.S. coastline. There\u2019s no scenario in which you can say, \u201cIt was an imminent threat to the U.S. That\u2019s why we attacked it.\u201d It was thousands of miles away, and it was heading in the other direction and, as you say, had 11 people on board, which is very strange. Most drug boats don\u2019t have that many people on board. So, I hope there is some kind of investigation, an international one, if not a U.S. one, because it looks like Donald Trump may have just murdered 11 innocent people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;Mehdi Hasan, I want to thank you for being with us, award-winning journalist, editor-in-chief and&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>Zeteo<\/em>. We\u2019ll link to your new&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/zeteo.com\/p\/charlie-kirk-killing-political-violence\">piece<\/a>, \u201cHypocritical Conservatives Are Using Charlie Kirk\u2019s Horrific Murder to Cynically Smear the Left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, this breaking news: President Trump says that the suspected shooter is in custody. And also this breaking news: Trump says he\u2019ll send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming up, Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison after being convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election. Stay with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[break]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;The late, great Odetta, performing in our firehouse studio September 11th, 2002, a year after the September 11th attacks. Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of those attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 (DemocracyNow.org) Watch Full Show This is viewer supported news. Please do your part today. DONATE GUESTS LINKS Democracy Now!&nbsp;speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;of&nbsp;Zeteo, about Israel\u2019s recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. \u201cThey&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/13\/mehdi-hasan-on-death-of-two-state-solution-possible-u-s-war-with-venezuela-more\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43906,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43905\/revisions\/43906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}