1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,760 Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of Sparks, the Zero Point, a segment from across 2 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:35,840 the circus. I'm your host, Jason P Sparks, and today we'll be looking into what is going on in 3 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:42,400 Israel, the surrounding areas, and what impacts are we seeing across the world. To start off, 4 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:48,280 I want to explain a few key things. This explanation is a brief description from the 5 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:54,200 viewpoints of the United States and or the United Nations. These are not my personal opinions or 6 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:59,840 beliefs because in this show, we will only be discussing the facts, the information as we know 7 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,400 it and attempt to learn more about them. So let's start off with the organization that 8 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:10,560 attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023. This organization is known as Hamas or the Islamic 9 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,480 resistance movement, which was founded in 1987. Hamas is the governing power in the Gaza Strip 10 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:24,760 of the Palestinian territories ever since 2006. Following 2006, there have been no elections to 11 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:30,560 replace Hamas as the governing power. They were designated as a foreign terrorist organization, 12 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:36,960 or FTO for short, by the US Department of State back in 1997. From that description, 13 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:42,600 you may be asking yourself, well, what are the Palestinian territories or what exactly is 14 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:49,280 Palestine? To provide a brief explanation, Palestine is an area in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 15 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:55,680 which comprises of parts of Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As I am sure many of 16 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:02,040 you have seen or heard the saying free Palestine, let's dive into what that means and the history 17 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:08,760 behind it. Palestine, as I have previously stated it, as well as East Jerusalem is seen as occupied 18 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:14,400 territories by Israel, by the United States Department of State. This occupation started 19 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:21,480 in 1967 following the Israeli victory in the Six Days War against Israel's neighboring countries, 20 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:29,480 Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. So the term free Palestine derives from this occupation by the country of 21 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:35,560 Israel. This occupation is even condemned by the United Nations. This occupation is seen as a 22 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:43,240 humanitarian crisis. The Gaza Strip is blockaded. Trade is almost non-existent. Civilians are more 23 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:49,680 likely to be unemployed than employed. And it is very difficult, if not impossible, for Palestinian 24 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:55,700 civilians to leave. So why is Palestine important? Palestine, or at the very least parts of it, 25 00:02:55,700 --> 00:03:02,640 is seen as holy land to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Now, with a brief introduction of the 26 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:08,880 topic, let's jump into what is happening in this part of the world. On October 7th, 2023, 27 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:14,640 Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel along the border of southern Israel and Gaza. 28 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:20,800 This day was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. But 29 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:28,080 instead, it was a day that Hamas militants were able to attack 22 different locations across the 30 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:34,320 border of Gaza and Israel. The Israeli Defense Force, or IDF, were caught completely off guard 31 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:40,080 and unprepared of this attack, which allowed for Hamas devastation to reach as far as it did. With 32 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:46,420 little resistance by the IDF, Hamas forces turned their attention to civilian targets. The US 33 00:03:46,420 --> 00:03:54,120 reported that this attack claimed the lives of more than 1,300 civilians, including at least 31 34 00:03:54,120 --> 00:04:01,080 US citizens. The US goes on to report that families were slaughtered in their own homes. An estimated 35 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:09,360 200 people were taken as hostages. And at one music festival, more than 260 civilian lives were 36 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:16,040 taken. Israel, of course, did not take this transgression lightly. The same day, Israel declared 37 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:22,880 war against Hamas, and airstrikes and artillery quickly fell on the Gaza Strip. As the IDF retaliated 38 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:28,880 against the Hamas attack, Palestinian officials stated that more than 4,600 people had been killed 39 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:36,680 and over 14,000 wounded by the retaliation by the IDF. On October 9th, the IDF had regained 40 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:43,280 control of the area surrounding Gaza and imposed a full siege upon it. Israeli Defense Minister 41 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:49,760 Gallant ordered a tightening of the blockade around Gaza and said, quote, Nothing is allowed 42 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:57,400 in or out. There will be no fuel, electricity or food supplies. We will fight animals in human 43 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:03,840 form and proceed accordingly, end quote. The fighting has raged on, but it's primarily been 44 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:09,800 airstrikes, artillery and rocket strikes going back and forth between the Israeli and Hamas 45 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,960 forces. Skirmishes on the ground have been far in the between or majorly unreported by 46 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,680 either side. There have been claims by Hamas of ambushing IDF forces in Gaza, while the 47 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:25,000 IDF states that only shots been fired at them. But no ground fighting has commenced. Israel's 48 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,840 airstrikes, however, have not stopped in just Gaza, as reports of airstrikes have came from 49 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,760 the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria as well. Clashes at this time are becoming more frequent 50 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,400 with Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon as it becomes more apparent that Israel might be 51 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,360 fighting a war on more than one front. So let's move on to discuss the US involvement 52 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,680 in this war. The United States president has condemned Hamas for their actions against 53 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:55,000 the Israeli people, but has asked the country of Israel to show restraint that these actions 54 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,440 and atrocities are done by the terrorist organization ruling over the Palestinian people, but are 55 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,720 not the actions of the Palestinians themselves. With that being said, the president has 56 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:11,280 shown his support for Israeli efforts in Gaza, but yet again asking for restraint against 57 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:16,120 those who want nothing to do with this war. The United States has sent two aircraft carriers 58 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:21,440 to the Mediterranean Sea. Approximately 2000 marines are on standby, pledged equipment 59 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:26,440 and financial support, and even United States special forces are allegedly supporting Israeli 60 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:32,240 forces with planning and intelligence. Through the US's support and show of military bravado, 61 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:38,040 US forces have seen what many news organizations are calling spillover from the war. US forces 62 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:43,840 have seen attacks on bases in Syria and Iraq. Protests have broken out across several countries 63 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:50,760 and US embassies in Turkey, Malaysia, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan, just to name a few, have 64 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:55,560 put out warnings of the planned demonstrations. Demonstrations in Lebanon resulted in the 65 00:06:55,560 --> 00:07:00,960 use of water cannons and tear gas being used by security forces and non-essential employees 66 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:07,040 were asked to evacuate the Iraq embassy. In Washington DC, approximately 300 protesters 67 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,760 were arrested for demonstrating in the Cannon House office building. Tensions and protests 68 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:17,480 continue to rise after videos and reports of the Gaza hospital was hit with a rocket. 69 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,280 Israel has denied that it was the one who struck the hospital and has evidence that 70 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,560 they claim proves that they did not do so. Protests and demonstrations are seen all over 71 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:32,880 the world, but there is no indication of a ceasefire or an end to the Israeli occupation. 72 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,080 Efforts have been made to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza, but reports state that 73 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,400 they are far from enough and that the situation will continue to grow worse even though it 74 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:47,240 is already dire. At time of recording this on October 22nd, 2023, the death toll in Israel 75 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:52,760 is more than 1,400, with most of them being from October 7th, 2023, and the Palestinian 76 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:58,960 death toll nears 5,000. To draw this episode to a close, I will say that I hope this war 77 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:04,120 and bloodshed ends soon, but I will continue to update you on the situation as more information 78 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:10,480 comes out. Until then, stay informed and look for opportunities to make our world a better 79 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:17,600 place. As always, I'm your host, Jason P. Sparks, and thank you for tuning in to Sparks 80 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:24,600 at the Zero Point. 81 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:54,600 We'll see you next time. 00:08:33,000 --> 00:09:43,000 Algid Prodcutions LLC outro. Thank you for listening.