The entertaining, stimulating, funny and seriously interesting “All-In” Podcast did a recent couple of episodes addressing the pro-Palestine protesters on university campuses across the U.S., tackling the serious issue of the Gaza war, as well as U.S.-backed conflicts.
The four “besties,” Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg, is made up of tech investors, former Google, AOL, Paypal and Facebook executives, venture capitalists, angel investors, engineers, writers, a former Gubernatorial candidate, and even the “Queen of Quinoa.”
Sacks said the war in Gaza may be Israel’s “Vietnam.” He called it “shades of Vietnam in terms of it being an unwinable war,” as well as the huge number of civilian casualties.
Others noted that if Israel stops fighting Hamas, it will cease to exist, marking a significant difference between the wars. Sacks said the Rules of Engagement are extremely loose right now in Gaza, as evidenced by the miles and miles of video of Gaza – he said it looks like a lunar surface – the result of “indiscriminate bombing.”
One of the differences is that in the Vietnam War, no one was chanting “Death to Vietnam.” And in Israel, there were even some Holocaust survivors from WWII who were murdered by Hamas terrorists, driving home the horror of October 7th.
Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg commented on the recent pro-Palestine protests which shut down the entire Golden Gate Bridge.
Sacks also noted that Google recently fired 28 employees protesting the Israeli Cloud contract. “Google had no choice but to fire these employees. They were being disruptive and they were trespassing, and Google has a business to run. So this is what any business would do,” he said. Chamath Palihapitiya described the situation as “left-leaning people inside a left-leaning organization, protesting because it isn’t left-leaning enough.” He said “it shows how totally naive these employees are, and what basic business understanding they have… the first and foremost being that they are at-will employees,” not contracted NBA players.
Perhaps as interesting as the Gaza War discussion and comparison, was a recent “All-In” episode in which Sheryl Sandberg joined Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg, as David Sacks had a last minute board meeting and wasn’t able to join that day.
This discussion was far from their usual joviality and verbal jousting.
Sandberg, of Google and Facebook fame, has a new documentary out addressing the sexual violence – the brutal rapes and murders of Israeli women by Hamas October 7, 2023.
Sandberg’s “Screams Before Silence” is eyewitness accounts from released hostages, survivors, and first responders. “During the October 7 attacks on Israeli towns and at the Nova Music Festival, women and girls were raped, assaulted, and mutilated. Released hostages have revealed that Israeli captives in Gaza have also been sexually assaulted,” is a quick description of the film.
However, Sandberg traveled to Israel to interview victims, survivors and some first responders, and teared up several times during the podcast, just describing the film and some of the people she interviewed.
The May 2nd podcast began with a discussion about the anti-semitic protests on college campuses right now, and how it has exponentially grown so rapidly.
Sandberg said that sexual violence as a tool of war is a war crime. “The Hamas terrorists committed mass rape, genital mutilation of women and men, women were tied to trees, naked and covered in blood with their legs spread.” Yet the campus protesters are chanting “We are Hamas,” and are in dangerous denial that sexual violence was used.
“It’s horrible, and people are denying that this happened,” Sandberg said.
Chamath Palihapitiya asked, “where does the denial come from? And war crimes and sexual violence – why?”
“From polarization and black and white views,” Sandberg said. “People reject what doesn’t fit their views.”
Sandberg said she wishes for a peaceful two-state solution as much as anyone. But seeing the murders, mass rape and mutilations, she said wished that those in denial would conclude “maybe the world isn’t so black and white. Maybe I need to rethink my narrative.”
“Or you can say ‘this didn’t happen.’ And I think it is a travesty and a tragedy to say ‘this didn’t happen.'”
David Friedberg asked Sandberg why feminist groups are aligning themselves with Hamas, when “this should be a core ideology. What are they trying to accomplish by denying?” he asked.
Sandberg acknowledged that some feminist groups have spoken out about the terror attacks and sexual violence. But some have said privately they can’t speak out because their employees will get mad at them.
“That a group of feminists who signed a letter saying that this did not happen, is crazy,” she said.
She noted that for those who claim it didn’t happen, and then demand “where are the victims?” Sandberg said, “Let me tell you – they’re all dead. This is why we called the film ‘Screams Before Silence.'”
Sandberg noted that Hamas is denying the sexual violence – they claim it’s against their religion. “The sexual violence doesn’t fit their narrative. But it was systematic – it was part of the plan.”
Sandberg met a first responder who had the foresight to take photos of victims he found – something first responders don’t usually do in the rush to save lives. But he did because he said no one would ever believe the atrocities committed among the 1,200 murders of Israelis.
“I saw them – the naked women with nails in their groin,” Sandberg said.
She said the first responder came upon 30 women in a group of trees, naked, tied to the trees, legs spread, bloodied and obviously raped and murdered. “He cried because he didn’t get there fast enough to save them,” Sandberg said.
“You violate a woman, you violate a country.” Palihapitiya added, “It’s to humiliate a people, to humiliate a country.”
“Terrorists do these awful things to cause massive trauma. It’s sadism – the pure evil of this brand of terrorism. Part of the process is accepting what happened, and coming to some truth.”
Sandberg concluded, “The path to peace is to say ‘this happened.’ Denial is not going to get us there.”
Screams Before Silence is available to watch now.
It is a 60-minute, presenter-led documentary film, Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta and founder of LeanIn.org, interviews multiple eyewitnesses, released hostages, first responders, medical and forensic experts, and survivors of the Hamas massacres.