Welcome to Rabble Rants, I'm Santiago Gelo Quintero and alongside Jess McLean, we're going to unpack

the stories that have us most riled up and challenge the narratives around them. Before we get into

our rant on the US move to build a seaport in Gaza, we have an easy call to action for you.

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and these rabble rants, which you can find on their own feed. All right. So hopefully by

now folks have heard of Biden's plan to build a seaport. That's what we're going to call

it throughout the episode. but we'll also speculate as to what its intentions are. So in order

to have this discussion, we're gonna kind of set the stage what's happening in Gaza, especially

as it pertains to geopolitics and humanitarian aid. So again, I'm sure people have also seen

the airdrops and the photo ops that go along with all of this. I know Canada has sent some,

the EU has resumed some aid and... All of them are sending politicians over to both Israel

and Palestine. I don't know if we'll get into Jolie, but she has been over there posing with

everyone she can. And some aid drops have been going in. Some trucks of humanitarian aid have

been arriving, but not without issues. I mean, the U.S. and Jordanian military are dropping

the most amount of aid by air. And they made a big deal out of this one drop that was like

11,500 meals. And, you know, that deserved press and the amount of photography involved and

follow up. And you're talking about like feeding less than 4,000 people for a day. There's 700,000

people in Gaza right now that are starving. And so whatever they're doing right now. sure

as fuck isn't working. You know, you see the trucks that are trying to get in through the

like one or two crossings that are open. And I open is a loose term. And some of them are

being blocked by Israeli citizens. They're using this whole, you know, Hamas will just steal

the aid and use it to rebuild. And in the meantime, yeah, folks are actually, you've got a famine

on your hands. One can't mention the aid being delivered into Gaza without also mentioning

the flower massacres. That's plural now. We did report on the last one that was on February

29th. That killed 112 people, wounded 750. But they have been repeated over and over again.

The most recent, I believe it was March 14th, with over 50 casualties. There's one location,

the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City, that has been repeatedly targeted as people are approaching

these humanitarian aid convoys. The fact that the world is standing by as Israel massacres

people that are trying to get food, nothing really surprises me anymore, but I feel like

that becomes like a new low globally, surely. Yeah, I feel like, you know, having looked

at history, if they wanted to get more aid in, they could easily, you know, instead of air

drops, you put a French US, whatever you want ship directly to Gaza, or you go in directly

on the ground to deliver aid, it's it is doable, because Israel cannot afford to directly attack

any Western powers. So when you see these airdrops killing people because they're not dropped

properly, to me it feels like, I mean, back in the day, like whatever happened to, and

you know, we talk about how the UN isn't particularly good at what they do. But what happened to

UN peacekeepers? Wasn't that something that Canada is supposed to be super proud of? Lester

B. Pearson and whatever. Why is not peacekeeping missions to go and deliver aid? Well, this

one's a little bit more complicated. Like, Gaza's got a unique kind of geography that doesn't

allow for really large ships without a pier. And the closest pier to most of the people

is one that was built in Cognouness. 10 years ago, I think it was, but it's now obviously

not faring very well. If anybody's seen aerial footage of Gaza, there's very little infrastructure

left that would allow that kind of facilitation. So jetties would be required. It definitely

still is possible. I mean, the people of Gaza fish, it is accessible by boat. However, we

also have to remember there is an Israeli marine embargo. So That's where it gets a little bit

complicated because anything that we're going to discuss moving forward likely in a way contravenes

this blockade of Gaza that's been going on far longer than the hostilities since October 7th

that most people are focused on. So it's possible logistically, but politically is it. So we're

seeing a bit of a shift, though. Obviously, I think. Just the level of carnage and the

political backlash, particularly the Biden's basin. So for folks who don't follow US politics,

we don't really all that much either, but you must know that there's an election brewing

and now it's decided it will be between Biden and Trump and a large portion of Biden's base

is very upset with him. They're casting undecided ballots. They're showing real displeasure in

the only candidate that they have available to beat Trump. And so this is a political crisis

for Biden that he has to navigate. And I think we're seeing the narrative shift and their

suggestion of building a seaport that comes into play. I think that has a lot to do with

these political games and nothing really kind of grounded in actually delivering essential

humanitarian aid. because Israel could be letting in a whole bunch more aid right now. Right.

There are more crossings than the ones that are open. Israel claims that they're not blocking

any of them. We know that that's not true. There are aid ships like flotillas that have attempted

to come and bring aid to Gaza before. Now, I don't think anybody's attempted the crossing

just because the level of military activity in the area. But there is an aid ship that

is stocked and now off the coast of Gaza, sent by a charity in Spain. Open Arms is the name

of the ship and the charity. It's got 200 tons of food and people can actually see it on the

beaches of Gaza, which has got to be fucking torture. But it's the need for kind of jetties

to take them back and forth. And Israel, of course, the UN reminded them and they just

ignored it. All of the rulings from January 31st have meant nothing to Israel. They know

what their obligations are under humanitarian law and they're not meeting any of them. In

fact, They're the ones creating the situation. So, but this narrative shift, I want to focus

on that because I think it brings us to the sepulchre. Wasn't there supposed to be like

a one month deadline before they had to check back in? Has that happened? So the ICJ ruling

was actually that Israel must submit a report to them on how it intends to address all the

issues raised and deliver the humanitarian aid within a month. So that is common. That's long

past. But I think when the ruling came down, we all knew that Israel never intended to follow

up on anything. They denied the legitimacy of the court and even our own politicians kind

of scoffed at the ruling. So they knew the globe, the global community would not hold them accountable

to that. So I think it's hit a fever pitch. And one of the things that really surprised

me is when CNN did a recent report on the situation in Palestine. And in their... fancy newsroom

with their, what do you call it, like digitalized walls. They threw up pictures or images representing

all of the dead Palestinian children that had been killed since October 7th. And it wrapped

around, you know, it was a very gut wrenching piece. It was shocking because it was CNN.

And I think it was kind of evidence that what we've been talking about before of it becoming

impossible to defend the Zionist narrative now. And so there needs to be alternatives, right?

The media can't keep doing it, but surely they see they're walking step in step with the US

government and the military establishment there and their plans. So it was like, boom, boom.

So as soon as we posted up about the CNN kind of narrative shift, folks were in the replies

going, don't buy it. There's always a purpose to this and the purpose is the seaport. So

the reason you're seeing the... the US media shift their talking points and start to focus

on the, and not just the US media, but BBC is now talking about the inhumane treatment of

medical staff in Gaza at the hands of the IDF. A lot more scathing reports are coming out,

honest reporting on the human rights abuses of Israel. And so what is the purpose of this?

To justify the seaport. And as we talk about the seaport, we'll start to speculate why.

Why is this such an emergency military operation as Biden described it in his State of the Union

address? He not only called for the seaport to be built, but for a six-week ceasefire.

Very specific. And just so happens that it takes about a month to build this type of pier that

they are proposing. That's convenient. Because it will be in a very precarious spot, right?

We're talking about just off the coast of Gaza. This is where the Israeli army is pounding

Ra'afah, Gaza City still, and Khan Yunis with airstrikes and their ground troops are also

in the area. Presumably also Hamas troops are in the area. And so it's not a very safe security

spot. And so I think this is really self-serving ceasefire because he couldn't afford to lose

US troops to this. Well, I instantly start thinking about oil, right? Because didn't they discover

a bunch of oil off the coast of Gaza? Natural gas, LNG. I hate history sometimes, right?

Like, it does just feel like the look. Like, we can only operate off of what we know, but

US acting out of the best interests of humanity is not exactly something that ever happens,

so. No, I was saying like even my mom, I said, Mom, she goes, What are you recording on? I

go, Well, the US wants to build a seaport in Gaza. They say it's for food. And she goes,

Oh, my God. Like she knew she'd watched enough paramilitary operations in Hollywood to know

that they're never up to any good. But we don't need to speculate. We've got a few facts to

help people get there themselves. And it's like, you know, look, six weeks ceasefire for self

serving interests. still saves people. That's the thing is that we're in a position right

now where, you know, it's not exactly like I'm out here saying, no, don't give us a ceasefire.

We don't want to see, like, you know, yeah, stop killing people. That would be great. But

can it not be for self-serving interests? And can it be permanent? Yeah. And not a ceasefire,

but an end to the occupation is really, and I know what you mean, like there are ideals

and there are what we can get right now from war hawks. So the fact that the US is offering

or suggesting a ceasefire, you know, might assist in the situation. But I think when we're looking

long term at what the establishment of a seaport by US military personnel in Palestine would

mean, even in that region starts to shift your perspective perhaps a little bit. And I think

it's because of this urgency that they're allowed to mask this ulterior motive. Right? Because

how can we say no? If you were going to deliver and stop the death, the starvation deaths of

people who've already experienced such trauma, then you're like, yes, of course, bring them

food, like any means necessary. And then we fall into that trouble. You can't undo that.

The US will never remove that access to their seaport. And we've seen what they've done to

other nations. where they've gone in to provide assistance and they've never been out from

under their thumb again. You'd probably just change one occupier for another to be honest.

But let's look at what we know about the seaport. Because face value, I don't believe anything,

especially with the US is still supplying Israel with weapons. Now Canada, we've just found

out it's been reported that since January 8th, so almost Canada's government put a pause on

the permits people need in order to ship technology. They call it non-lethal weaponry. We've talked

about that before. It absolutely does kill people, but it includes night vision goggles and all

this other stuff. They've not been able to ship that from Canada since January 8th. So there

has in fact been an informal embargo put on them. But yeah, so in the State of the Union,

Biden, he mentions this seaport for like the first time. 36 hours later, the General Frank

S. Besson is set sail from Virginia on its way to Gaza to build the seaport. And folks from

inside Gaza will show video footage of bulldozers, other heavy machinery entering Gaza for the

purpose of building the seaport and not of rescuing people from under the rubble or any kind of

rebuilding efforts. So clearly those trucks had no trouble getting in and getting past.

They do say it's for humanitarian aid. They're specific, that it would be food, water, medicine,

and temporary shelters. So they're basically gonna sustain this refugee camp that's been

established in Rafa, expanded, rather, in Rafa. They're calling it an emergency military mission,

as though 160 days in, this wasn't already thought of or a possibility. But... It's a no boots

on the ground kind of promise, although it will take a thousand US military personnel to build

it. They say they've got all this technology that won't allow them to actually get out of

the water. So somehow no boots on the ground is really quite literal. They will be just

off the shore of Gaza in full reach of them, but won't actually step foot on shore, presumably.

It's going to be like a floating. There's photos of it all over the internet. We'll link some

of the things to it. It's what's going to allow larger ships and larger equipment to be offloaded.

So not just trucks and aid. This is something that the military regularly builds for ground

invasions by sea. Get ground troops by sea. And all of a sudden they're just going to apply

it to humanitarian efforts only. But It's not just the US military's involvement that makes

it sus. Like that's enough sometimes, right? But it's been sourced out largely to this company

called Fogbo, F-O-G-B-O-W. And it's this company's makeup that really kind of sells the story

of what their likely intentions are for this marine access.

on hand with right they've opened up a new sea route that comes from Cyprus which is like

the closest EU nation so they'll be able to also take credit for this. So Fogboat LLC it's

a pretty new company it only established in 2022 it's registered in Wyoming and almost

nobody knows anything about it well that's changing quickly but I mean if you go to their website

they don't give out a whole lot of information there's not a lot of previous articles or data

on the internet. for this company, but basically it's headed by a bunch of spooks. Its CEO is

Carl Sam Mundy. This is like a retired commander of the US Marine Central Command. And then

the other folks that run this company, Mark Mulroy, former CIA paramilitary officer. He's

also the former assistant secretary of defense for Trump. specifically for the Middle East.

He's also got a relationship with the Biden administration. He helped smooth over the transition

that Trump didn't want to happen. So he's in close with both sides of the political elites.

That asshole also co-directed something called the Yemen Steering Initiative. And this is

an important point. This is like a $50 billion initiative, and they've been tasked with establishing

democracy and stability in Yemen. I don't know what episode I need to refer you all to, but

I mean, even just in our eulogy of Brian Mulroney, we explain neoliberalism and the establishing

of democracies in so-called third world countries. And what it really is about is establishing

economic presence there, big capital presence, and it's just heightened exploitation of workers

in those areas. That's really all it ends up being. And in Yemen, you have a... the US holding

up their chosen government and that allows them to delegitimize the Houthi rebels. So that's

a complicated political situation, but these are the kinds of people now that are going

to be building this peer. They have never done anything humanitarian in their life. They have

advised politicians specifically on how to strengthen their national security through a relationship

with Israel. All of them have ties to an organization, an institution called JINSA. This is the Jewish

Institute for National Security of America. It's a training program for really high ranking

military officials. I'm talking generals and admirals. They go in, they meet the Israeli

prime minister, they talk to Mossad. They are taught and it's emphasized how important US

national security is to Israel and vice versa and how they're intertwined. These are the

folks that actually run these junkets that essentially dictate... military policies, especially as

it relates to the Middle East. The more you know about this company and the people that

are building the pier, the more you understand that it's a complete military strategic move

for the United States and the region and nothing else. They may feed Gazans. They'll have to.

I mean, if they build the pier, I don't know what kind of malarkey they could make up to

somehow then justify. allowing that starvation to occur, but this is going to be a huge geopolitical

shift in the region. So does it change how you feel about the bridge at all when you hear

about the company building it? In what way? Because I'm not exactly feeling good about

any of it, right? Well, I think like, because you kind of express like, well, we need to

feed people. And that is true. And a peer would... deliver that and I think a lot of people will

give it a green light mentally or not resist it so much because it likely would mean more

food, more medicine going to people who need it so desperately. I think like you said, if

they really wanted aid there, like ground aid is the most efficient way to deliver it. And

we do have global forces. There are means to force Israel's hand into actually opening these

routes and securing aid where it needs to go. I feel like... this is the most expensive and

politically tumultuous way to possibly deliver aid. Yeah, it's a situation where given the

absence of truly compassionate humanitarian ways of doing this, realistic ones, you know,

I mean, it's given the state of geopolitical politics and everything. It's kind of a situation

where as long as we're relying on... powerful nations with the interest of powerful nations

to solve the problem. You're gonna get these, you know, double-edged solutions to things

where, because at the end of the day, that's the thing is it doesn't really benefit. Like

what do Western powers have to gain from genociding the Palestinian population really? You know,

I'm not talking Israel here. I'm talking everyone else. What do they have to gain from a genocide?

control of the natural resources in that area. Ah, well, maybe. Maybe not. Maybe Israel wants

the control of it. But I think that's what this is about. I think once the US establishes this

military presence or this access, because in a way Israel might be going along with it.

This might be in consultation with them to a degree, but there's no doubt that it undermines

their blockade, it undermines their position, and it- It undoubtedly creates a stronghold

for the US in a way that I think that they maybe can stop begging Israel to behave a certain

way. There's this political dance that seems to be going on between Biden and Bibi and it's

really costing Biden. If we know anything about US politicians, it's that they will risk almost

anything sometimes to simply win elections. It's incredible the things that they'll do

to distract from whatnot, but they're in a desperate situation here where... They're made to look

so bad and the world has turned on Israel. They cannot defend the Zionist ideology anymore.

So they need to have a different reason to be in the Middle East. Remember when Biden was

like, if there wasn't an Israel, we'd invent an Israel. So he invented in the form of Palestine.

Even that would be like best case scenario out of the built of the seaport is that it helps

the US to secure statehood for Palestine. But that would definitely be under a US type rule.

They would not simply allow that access. And I don't even think that they would go for that.

I think this is a way of the US to just dominate the region again, more definitively, rather

than having to use Israel as a proxy, because they do seem to have lost control of that state,

at least under Netanyahu. And like you said, there's US politicians calling for an election.

So they're frustrated with looking bad through Israel. It's kind of gotten out of hand for

them. Yeah. Like at the end of the day, the US, they're not helping Israel. They don't

support Israel because they believe in the Zionist project, or at least not the powerful. It's

always, what can we gain from this? Biden talks about how if there wasn't an Israel, they would

have to create one so that they can have a powerful ally in the Middle East. And I mean, sure,

I mean, there's a decent amount of Christian Zionist evangelicals who are very powerful,

who are doing this out of a belief in the Zionist project, but they're doing it for very selfish

reasons because they believe it'll bring upon, you know, end of days and whatnot. But yeah,

there's always something to gain from this. And so just looking at this, it's very much...

It's a time when I get a little... I don't know. confused about what we even ask for because

we want a ceasefire. We want an end to the occupation. We want all of these things. How do we get

it? Well, if we're, if we're asking the powerful countries, the only way that that's going to

happen is if they have something to gain from it, right? Or too much to lose. I think like

a lot of the pressure that people are building at the grassroots level is to weigh on the

other side. So although you might lose that gain. whatever that economic gain might have

been from aiding Israel's genocide. But you also have that political capital loss. So there

has to be a balance. And it's trying to create that threshold where it's just not politically

safe anymore. No matter how much you have to win, you've lost too much. You've lost your

base. Biden is an issue, but people can see it with Trudeau right in the polls, slipping

so terribly below Poliev. It's, it was a gamble that they really have lost on it. And unfortunately,

in both the Canada and US elections will likely end up with the ultimate evils. We've had these

discussions many times before, but because these folks have held on for so long and made bad

calls, we're gonna end up with even shittier governments. There's a certain sense, and I

don't exactly, like I'm not happy to convey this sense, but there's a certain. helplessness

where it's like, well, what the fuck do we do? You know, I don't exactly know. Barring a paradigm

shift of, I don't know, I don't know. I really like, the US is gonna make some money here.

They're gonna gain further control. And you know, it's a useful lesson. It's a useful lesson,

but we've had plenty of useful lessons, you know? And that's the frustrating thing is like.

looking at all of these terrible conflicts, terrible genocides, terrible things all over

the world, it always ends the same way, doesn't it? Until there's something substantially different.

And the thing is that for the US control, it doesn't mean sovereignty for Palestine. It

doesn't mean that the Palestinian cause wins. It just means that maybe Israel has to back

down a bit. Nobody knows, I guess, what the end result is. will be yet. But I guess if

we look to especially Iraq and the use of US contractors to essentially act like military

personnel in the end and to assert authority over the population in the same way, it's a

common tactic used by the military. And I think we raised this issue, one, because being aware

of everything is always just like half the battle, but two, to proceed with caution in the same

way grifters like Sean King can walk into a community in crisis and be glorified and all

his mistakes kind of forgotten. I think sometimes, but some people in desperate situations like

the Palestinians are right now will openly accept any assistance possible and not have time.

to be cautious. And I don't actually know what the answer is, like, what do we do about this?

But surely at least applying a lens of the same colonial experience that the US has repeated

over and over, imperialist tactic that we go in with at least open eyes and with warnings

to our Palestinian comrades that not all aid is equal.