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Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots, LLC
Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Trump Confirms US Armed Anti-Government Protesters in Iran, Accidentally Proving Iran Claim

    2026/04/06 | 1h 21 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interviews with Palestinian Lawyer Diana Buttu and Israeli Knesset Member Ofer Cassif: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-end-of-israeliran-nukes?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Rubio Claims Iran Can't Take Care of Its Own People As Trump Announces Daycare Will No Longer Be Funded By the Government https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/rubio-claims-iran-cant-take-care?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Iran, Nukes & the Palestinian Death Penalty w/ Palestinian Lawyer Diana Buttu & Israeli Lawmaker Ofer Cassif

    2026/04/03 | 1h 2 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interviews with Palestinian Lawyer Diana Buttu and Israeli Knesset Member Ofer Cassif: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-end-of-israeliran-nukes?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Rubio Claims Iran Can't Take Care of Its Own People As Trump Announces Daycare Will No Longer Be Funded By the Government https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/rubio-claims-iran-cant-take-care?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.
    Israel, the so-called beacon of democracy, with whom the U.S. shares so many values, and, to quote Hillary Clinton, an “unshakeable bond,” just passed an ethnicity-based death penalty law.
    On March 30, the Israeli Knesset approved a law that was introduced by the party of National Security Minister Ben-Gvir that calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners by hanging. Israeli prisoners are effectively exempt from this new law.
    To analyze this “genocidal” new law, we speak with two guests: Haifa-based Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, and Ofer Cassif, a member of the Israeli Knesset representing Israel’s Communist Party, who lives outside of Tel Aviv.
    Useful Idiots: Ofer, you have called Israel’s new death penalty law “genocidal.” Can you elaborate?Ofer Cassif: The law doesn’t apply to Jews. It applies solely to Palestinians. No need to say much about it. It’s very clear.Secondly, they are tried by military court, and this law also says that the military court “must accept the death penalty.” It has no other choice. And the law has another section which says that the Chief Commander of the West Bank is not entitled to pardon nor to mitigate the death penalty.When I say it’s a genocidal law more than a death penalty law, it’s not because it’s going to actually carry out a genocide. It’s because it enables and legitimizes a genocide. That’s the point.How come? Those who propose the law and the majority of those who voted in favor of the law consistently say that there’s no such thing as Jewish terrorism. If the law deals with terrorists, and there’s no such thing as Jewish terrorists, by definition they are excluded altogether.But the other side is that all Palestinians are terrorists.The vast majority of those who proposed this bill and in the public at large argue that there aren’t innocent Palestinians. You remember that after October 7, the common parlance in the Israeli discourse was that ‘no one is innocent in Gaza,’ including the children. According to that, all Palestinians are terrorists. But if all Palestinians are terrorists, and this new law says the terrorists should be killed, what’s the logical conclusion? All Palestinians should be killed.That’s the reason that I refer to it as a genocidal law.Useful Idiots: Diana, I heard you in an interview with Jadaliyya where you said that this new death penalty law to some extent “doesn’t matter.” Can you expand on the law and what you mean that?Diana Buttu: There are two different legal systems that exist from the river to the sea.If you are an Israeli, no matter where your crime is committed, you’ll be tried under the Israeli civilian system. So what that means is that if you’re an Israeli settler who’s living in an illegal settlement in the West Bank and you kill a Palestinian, you’re going to an Israeli civilian court.If you’re Palestinian, you’re going to an Israeli military court.So what’s the difference? Under this new death penalty law, the civilian court can sentence the death penalty if the defendant killed “with the intent to deny the existence of the state of Israel.”So let’s think about who is going to have intent to deny the existence of the state of Israel: it’s not going to be an Israeli settler because they’re killing in the name of the state of Israel.Just this year alone, from the start of 2026, Israeli settlers have killed eight Palestinians, and none of them have been tried. Nobody’s even been arrested, much less tried. If you look at the percentages of Israelis who actually get any form of prosecution, it’s three percent. That’s it.Let’s go to the other side, which is the military court system. Only Palestinians fall under that system. And what will happen under this new law is that it’s going to be a mandatory death sentence. And let’s look at the prosecution rates: 90 to 96 percent. The reason it’s so high is because they use “secret evidence.” They extract confessions through torture. So we now have a system where they’re going to impose the death penalty.The reason I’ve said that it effectively doesn’t matter is because we’ve seen that Israel’s now killed, at a conservative estimate, 75,000 Palestinians. It’s committed genocide in Gaza. The Israelis openly talk about there being no innocence. They gun people down at random. As I mentioned, there’s very low prosecution rates, so they can already kill with impunity. So they’ve just codified it. Because they can. Because they know they’ve been able to get away with genocide. So why not entrench it in law? Why not? Why do anything but?Subscribe to Useful Idiots to support our work and see the full interview with Knesset Member Ofer Cassif on whether Israel killed its own people on October 7 with the Hannibal Directive and the rise of Judeo-terrorism.
    00:00 Intro
    01:17 Lindsey Graham can't stop grinning while talking about murdering Iranians
    04:43 Rubio thinks it's THEM who are fanatical religious terrorists
    06:43 Aaron analyzes his Piers Morgan appearance
    08:33 Diana Buttu interview
    41:52 Ofer Cassif interview
    1:01:29 Did Israel kill its own people on October 7?

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    War Analysis: US Threatens Ground Invasion in Iran – No Kings Rally Stays Silent

    2026/03/30 | 1h 19 mins.
    Come see Aaron speak tonight (March 30) at a panel in Montreal: "The Struggle Continues: The Fight For Palestine Across Borders"
    https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/the-struggle-continues-the-fight-for-palestine-across-borders
    Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.
    Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS
    * Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Pepe Escobar & Aaron Maté on Israel, America & Iran War: BRICS vs The West

    2026/03/27 | 36 mins.
    Watch Pepe's excellent documentary: The Golden Corridor, BRICS and Iran's New World Order https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgsStCtRSWE
    Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.
    Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
    Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve
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    Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS
    Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS
    * Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    SOMEONE'S LYING: Trump Says Iran Negotiations Are Going Great. Iran Hasn't Heard From Him.

    2026/03/23 | 1h 42 mins.
    Today's cohost is Sana Saeed! Follow her work here: https://x.com/SanaSaeed
    Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.
    Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
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    Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.
    This morning President Trump told Fox News that Iran “wants to make a deal badly,” and that the most recent talks happened last night with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and their counterparts.
    Awkwardly, the Iranians claim that no talks have happened. So who’s lying?
    Are the Iranians misleading the media? Is Trump boasting a deal he’s unable to make? Or is this a repeat of what happened in Cuba, where Marco Rubio lied to Trump about fake negotiations in order to convince him that war was the only possible option? Did Witkoff and Kushner fake these talks to Trump?
    Aaron and special guest Sana Saeed unravel the story and react to the varying degrees of warmongering responses given on social media. It’s an hour and 45 minutes jam-packed with liars, sycophants, warmongers, and corporate tools. You won’t want to miss it.
    During all this, Katie’s on a mission to Cuba with CodePink, Jeremy Corbyn, and other brave journalists to end the murderous siege on the country. Your support for Useful Idiots helps fund the journalism we do!

    Our Sponsors:
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About Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.
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