Emptying Gaza: Norman Finkelstein and Chris Hedges on Genocide, Silence, and the Collapse of Moral Institutions

Published on: April 21, 2025

Introduction

In a recent interview on The Chris Hedges Report, renowned scholar Norman Finkelstein offers a searing analysis of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Far from being a war on Hamas, Finkelstein argues, Israel’s assault is a calculated strategy to depopulate Gaza permanently. The interview dives into the mechanics of this violence, the global silence that enables it, and the disturbing complicity of institutions—from media to academia.

Gaza: The Blueprint for Genocide

Finkelstein lays out a three-pronged strategy that has guided Israel’s actions in Gaza:

Genocide – Mass killing executed with bureaucratic efficiency.
Ethnic Cleansing – Limited success due to regional resistance to refugee displacement.
Fait Accompli – Destroying Gaza’s infrastructure to make life unlivable.

He emphasizes that no 21st-century atrocity compares to Gaza: over 1,900 children were killed in just one month—eclipsing even the worst periods of the Syrian civil war.

The Illusion of War: “This is Not About Hamas”

The rhetoric around “destroying Hamas” is a cover, Finkelstein says. With minimal Israeli casualties and no reported large-scale battles in Gaza, the reality is not war but extermination. The actual goal: remove all Gazans.

How Media & Global Distraction Enable Genocide

Timing is no accident. Israel often escalates violence when the world is distracted—such as the 2014 invasion during the Malaysia Airlines crash. Today, Gaza vanishes from headlines as U.S. media pivots to Trump trials and election drama.

Meanwhile, essential supplies—food, water, electricity—are deliberately blocked, intensifying Gaza’s humanitarian collapse. The suffering isn’t incidental; it’s meant to pressure Arab neighbors to accept refugees and erase Palestine altogether.

Failed Displacement Plans and Regional Tensions

U.S. and Israeli officials have floated relocating Gazans to Sudan, Somalia, or Somaliland. All proposals have floundered. Sudan rejected the plan outright. Syria is inaccessible. Egypt is caught between accusations of militarizing Sinai and Israel’s own treaty violations.

Suppression at Home: Media, Academia, and Billionaire Influence

Finkelstein and Hedges turn their attention to the United States, where media and academic institutions have become tools of suppression:

Media Smokescreens: U.S. outlets portray student protests as antisemitic—despite zero incidents of violence against Jewish students.
Donor Blackmail: Billionaires like Bill Ackman and Sheryl Sandberg pressure universities to crush campus protests. Screams Before Silence, a widely promoted propaganda film, depicts Palestinians as mass rapists—shown even at the White House.
University Purges: Three Ivy League presidents—two women of color—were ousted under donor pressure. Academic freedom is under unprecedented assault.

The Decline of Free Speech and the Humanities

Finkelstein also laments the intellectual decay in academia. Canonical literature like Shakespeare and Richard Wright is being replaced by ideological or sanitized content. Students at elite institutions are now more protected from discomfort than challenged to think critically.

International Law: A Voice Without Power

The International Court of Justice bravely acknowledged genocide in Gaza—but couldn’t stop it. Legal courage is rendered moot without enforcement. Meanwhile, powerful states continue to obstruct justice, echoing past failures like the retraction of the 2009 Goldstone Report.

Final Thoughts: Gaza as the Moral Litmus Test

This is not just about Gaza. It’s about what we, as a global society, are willing to tolerate. The silence of media, the retreat of universities, and the weaponization of identity politics to suppress dissent reflect a deeper moral rot. As Gaza burns, so too does our collective credibility.

Want to Know More?

Finkelstein’s upcoming book, Gaza’s Grave Diggers, will further explore the complicity of global elites in this genocide. Stay tuned for its release.

Like what you read?
Share this post, leave a comment, and subscribe for more analysis on global justice, media integrity, and political accountability.

Comments

Delivering the Dead: How the World Watches Gaza Bleed.

Delivering the Dead: How the World Watches Gaza Bleed “ I delivered a beheaded woman who was nine months pregnant. ” That’s not a horror-film script. That’s not medieval history. That is the testimony of an Australian medic standing in a Gaza hospital in 2025, describing what it means to “ practice medicine ” under Israeli bombardment. A nine-months-pregnant woman , decapitated , her body torn open so that the child she carried could be pulled out lifeless — and somehow this is still not enough to shake the comfortable democracies of the West into anything resembling a conscience. We should probably give the Nobel Prize for Creative Euphemism to the politicians who still call this “self-defense.” After all, there’s nothing quite as defensive as severing the head of an expectant mother and forcing foreign doctors to deliver her dead child in the rubble of what used to be a hospital . Bravo, civilization . The tragedy is not just the atrocity itself. It’s the smug perfo...

Britain’s Recognition of Palestine: A Century of Complicity in Disguise.

So we’ve reached this moment: Keir Starmer’s UK “ recognises the State of Palestine. ” Applause lines up. Speeches made. Headlines dazzled. But behind the pomp, the guns, the exports, the intelligence, the training — history rings out in mocking laughter. Because Britain has been complicit since day one. This recognition is not redemption . It’s theatre. 1. The Original Sin: Balfour Declaration Let’s go back. Because if you don’t know your history, you’ll be fooled by the future. On 2 November 1917 , Arthur James Balfour (Britain’s Foreign Secretary) wrote to Lord Rothschild, and officially declared: “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object , it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine , or the rights and political sta...

Gaza’s Medical Apocalypse: Numbers, Neglect, and the Farce of “Access”

If you ever needed proof that statistics can be more damning than bombs, look at Gaza’s health crisis . Behind the headlines and hashtags lies a cascade of bodies and broken systems. We have numbers, we have reports, we have PDFs— and yet the world stares, unmoved, at the collapse. Below is your ruthless, numbers-soaked guide to the suffering —and the institutional failure—behind Gaza’s medical implosion . 1. The Health System Is Already Dead. We’re Just Counting the Corpse. According to WHO, “The Gaza Strip faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with rising mortality and widespread displacement.” Between 1 January and 31 August 2024 , local health authorities reported 18,900 deaths and 38,916 injuries . Women, children, and the elderly account for over 50 % of fatal casualties . More than 53 % of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were non-functional as of August 2024, and many of the partially functioning ones lacked adequate water or relied entirely on fuel generators. ...

The End of Zionism? Welcome to the Funeral Nobody Wants to Admit Is Overdue

Of course. Haaretz recently published an opinion piece by Ithamar Handelman -Smith titled “ Some Say It’s the End of Zionism, and I Say That’s All Right .” And what impeccable timing: as Israel carries out a near-two-year campaign of siege, famine, and bombardment in Gaza — slaughtering families, burying aid workers with their ambulances, and literally starving children to death — someone in Israel finally whispers the unspeakable: maybe Zionism, that 20th-century project of “ Jewish salvation ,” has outlived its moral shelf life. Bravo. The house is burning, bodies are scattered in the street, and the philosopher shows up with a garden hose . Zionism: Success Story or Crime Scene? Handelman-Smith argues that Zionism achieved its success : a Jewish state, a safe haven, a fortress against the ghosts of Europe’s crimes . But like every “ success story ” drenched in other people’s blood , it didn’t age well. What began as refuge turned into domination; what was called “ ...

The Ceasefire of Exhaustion: When Empires Collapse from Within

By Malik Mukhtar — ainnbeen.blogspot.com Two years after Gaza was first set on fire , the war that began with biblical vengeance has stumbled to an exhausted ceasefire . On October 9, 2025 , Israel and Hamas — after endless carnage, famine, and rubble — have signed the first phase of a ceasefire agreement mediated in Sharm el-Sheikh . Trump called it a “ historic peace plan. ” History may call it a truce of attrition — a war that collapsed under the weight of its own hubris. What the Ceasefire Says — and What It Doesn’t Under the agreement, Israeli forces are to pull back to a designated “yellow line” within 24 hours of cabinet ratification. Hamas, in turn, will release all remaining hostages — alive or dead — within 72 hours after the withdrawal. Israel will free about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, though it made sure to exclude political figures like Marwan Barghouti , whose freedom would remind the world that Palestine still breathes. Humanitarian convoys — food,...

Ainnbeen

Search This Blog