Of all the stupid shit said about the Israel-Palestine conflict – and we’re coming off an extremely low base here, just ask Natalie Barr – we might have a winner for ‘Dumbest Contribution On The Israel Palestine Conflict’.
Philosopher and author Sam Harris recently appeared on Piers Morgan’s program, so obviously, we’re already off to a rocky start. An avowed atheist, his main schtick is being fiercely critical of religion, in particular Islam, and his take on the conflict in Palestine didn’t depart from that well-worn path.
Harris claimed that the real reason behind the conflict was not the theft of Palestinian land, or the brutal 76-year occupation by Israel, but Islam. It’s an extremist religion, and all of its adherents think children are bombs. You can’t make this stuff up.
Fortunately, thanks to The Katie Halper Show on Youtube, someone who actually knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Israel-Palestine was on hand to debunk Harris’ brain fart. That someone was American political scientist Norman Finkelstein – one of the world’s leading authorities on the conflict – who describes Harris’ contribution as “certifiably imbecilic”.
If you watch Finkelstein disassemble Harris’ very public short circuit, it’s actually even worse than it initially looks (which is saying something… because it looks like a train wreck from the outset). So without further ado, over to first Harris, and then Finkelstein.