Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Independent presidential candidate Cornel West clashed Friday on NewsNation over a solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Dershowitz and West appeared on “Cuomo” to discuss the continual pro-Palestine protesting on campuses as tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas heighten. As activists have been protesting at Columbia University since Wednesday, West appeared on campus Thursday to stand in “solidarity” with the protesters.
While both Dershowitz and West were giving their takes on the situation, the former law professor called out West’s support of the protesters to state that they don’t want a solution to the issue. (RELATED: ‘Stop Recording’: Columbia University Pro-Palestine Protesters Refuse To Speak To Reporter, Directs To ‘Media Team’)
“Nobody in these demonstrations wants a two-state solution. I want a two-state solution. I want to end the occupation, but nobody in these demonstrations does. They want to wipe Israel off the map!” Dershowitz stated.
“Because it’s too late. They want Jews and Palestinians to live together so there’s no Jewish supremacy. There’s no Jewish supremacy or Palestinian supremacy. But when you talk about the two-state, that’s over now, Alan. That’s over, it’s too late. You got 800,000 settlement — given the settler colonial expansion, 800,000 settlement. They’ve undercut the two-state,” West replied.
“They [Israel] left Gaza in 2005. Every single Jew picked up and left, the same thing can happen on the West Bank. If you join me in calling for a two-state solution, you go back to Colombia and the two of us will make a speech calling for a two-state solution and we will be booed out of there. They won’t even let us speak, they will commit violence against us if we called for a two-state solution. That’s the truth,” Dershowitz stated.
West pushed back again on Dershowitz claiming that the two-state solution is used to “expand” allow Israelis to steal “the land,” triggering show host Chris Cuomo to jump in on the argument.
“It’s precisely because calling for the two-state solution has been a subterfuge and a mirage to allow for Israel to expand and subordinate stealing the land and settlers killing innocent Palestinians and civilians. That’s the reality,” West pushed back.
“Now, look, we all know —” Cuomo began.
“Brother Chris talked about the truth. We gotta talk about the truth,” West continued.
“Yea I know, but we also know that you can’t deal with the situation that’s presently there without trying to set some new ambitions as goals. You can’t look at the future as a function of the past; you’ll never get anywhere better, especially when it comes to the Middle East,” Cuomo stated.
Following an estimated class walkout of 500 people, New York Police Department (NYPD) officers reportedly arrested 108 people as tensions heightened throughout the day. Activists protesting reportedly told officers to “go kill” themselves, that they were the “KKK,” and “baby killers,” according to Fox News. NYPD officials reportedly confirmed to the outlet that the daughter of Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi, was among those arrested and given a trespassing summons. Hirsi, a third-year student at Barnard College, additionally posted on X (formerly know as Twitter) claiming that she was allegedly suspended for her pro-Palestinian activities.