The Wisdom Tradition | a philosophy podcast · Alexander Sachon

PROF. ANTHONY HALL on the Geopolitics of Israel, Palestine, and Gaza | Interview

December 19, 2023·1 hr 22 min·5 clips

Hall's core claim: "the real high-level power, you invent your enemy."

The Wisdom Nutrition Podcast opens by introducing Professor Anthony Hall, Professor Emeritus of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Hall is retired, but his work still sits at the center of the argument. The interview grows out of the host's recent article and podcast episode on the October 7th attack. That earlier analysis becomes the setup for this larger conversation rather than a side note. The host says Hall first came into view through a piece called The Genocidal State of Israel, published on Substack and on GlobalResearch.ca. The host treats it as a comprehensive account and uses it as a starting point for contact. From there the discussion opens into the broader Middle East and the ongoing Israel-Gaza situation. The talk keeps widening. October 7th is treated as a mystery with serious ethical, moral, and legal consequences if it was anticipated or allowed to unfold. The host says that possibility raises questions that cannot be brushed aside. Max Blumenthal enters the frame as one source the host is drawing on, and the conversation also turns to the Hannibal doctrine and the idea that military personnel may be taken in ways that make bargaining part of the story. That leads into the problem of bargaining, since labeled terrorist groups are rarely granted a formal seat at the table. The episode then compares the way October 7th is narrated to the way 9/11 was narrated. That comparison opens onto Afghanistan, the speed of the American response, and the machinery of official explanation. Zelikow is mentioned as the writer of the 9/11 report, and Bernard Lewis appears as part of a deeper imperial lineage tied to British empire thinking. Hall's account treats these events as connected stages in the same larger sequence rather than isolated shocks. The closing movement returns to Israel as an imperial actor trying to preserve an old Anglo-American narrative of supremacy.

As heard by us

A dense, interpretive look at the Israel-Gaza situation, from October 7 and the Hannibal doctrine to 9/11 and empire.

This episode follows a conversation with Professor Anthony Hall, who is introduced as Professor Emeritus of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge and now retired.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a wide-ranging Middle East conversation that puts October 7th, Gaza, and the larger historical frame in the same room.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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