but i am working on a long-term project about mesopotamia because again those question marks hovered over my head coming from my journalism basically. and i think about -- i began to think about obedience to authority and then i began to think about it in general and how did the social hierarchy start and political hierarchy start and i thought okay let's go back to the ancients to sort of figure that out so life in doing is interviewing archaeologists because i'm never going to become an expert but maybe i will read enough to deal to ask relatively important questions of them so that is what i have been doing with that and that will probably take some time but as far as cleansing that what goes, i'm working on a satire that is short and very different from anything i've done in the decades and hopefully it will be sort of funny but very dark and i won't say much more about. >> i'm sadr rise in the last two american administrations basically. [applause] to meeting all blend together. >> this is of your graphic novel but more a question about what you learned about the soldiers. at a

i am working on a long-term project about mesopotamia as again, those question marks over over my headoming for my journalism basically. and i think about -- i began to think about obedience to authority. then i began to think about authority in general and how did social hierarchy start and how did little to hierarchy start? and that's okay, well, let's go back to the ancients to sort of figure that out. what i've been doing is interviewing archaeologist because i'm never going to become an expert that maybe i will read enough to be able to ask relatively intelligent questions of the. that's what i've been doing with that. that will probably take some time. as far as cleansing the palate goes, i'm working on a satire that's short, and very different from anything i've done in decades. and hopefully it will be sort of funny, but very dark, and i won't say much more about it. [inaudible] >> the last few american administrations basically. [laughter] [applause] to me, they all blended together. spent this isn't a purple other graphic novel but more a question about what you learned about

they were only made possible by the rise of the first city states in mesopotamia 5000 years ago.y definition you could not have a conventional army without a state so until you had states you had no conventional armies which have officers and enlisted ranks in a bureaucracy in logistics and all these things we associate with conventional armed forces. but guess what? as soon as you have the very first city states of mesopotamia they were immediately attacked by nomads from the urgent highlands, sensually guerrillas. so from the very start organized militaries have always found a lot of their time fighting unconventional air regular warfare and do you know what? those terms don't make a heck of a lot of sense. that is one of the big takeaways that i had from doing six years of reading and research for this book. the way we think about this entire subject is all messed up. they think that somehow conventional warfare is the norm that the way you want to fight is to how these conventional armies slugging at out in the open but the reality is though civilized than the exception. just

basically they supported the insurgents in mesopotamia and to start running representative shot over local culture in that the plane time we had some of the tribal leaders who had invented very carefully decide at the same time that when we look at this search and also looking at afghanistan when george of the bush announced the search for iraq war was deeply was nader but bush got to defy the popular will by announcing the search at the same time he did not attach a timeline. said did not happen with their record -- with the rate card of the other strategies with looking militarily is just as much psychological as military. when it comes to the ada to engage with the roads the combined military strategy with the diplomatic strategy with the informational strategy in the provision of subsidies and jobs and economic strategy it may have been shortsighted because we were promising things we could not fully deliver and also is a device seeing violence but to convince some of those that were in engaged in the search that they could win political benefit through violence what they could n

>> born in mesopotamia, goes to egypt, and comes back. trying to connect him, i think, to the entire ark of the region. >> it's a story that's shared by about half the world. abraham's path will eventually wind through ten countries. our next stop is in the biblical land of kanaan, in what is now israel and the west bank. my guide on this part of abraham's path is abnar goran, an israeli archeologist. >> if somebody is thinking for getting back to roots, coming back to being in touch with god, the visit is always the place. >> it's almost kind of shocking to me that these immense stories that more than, you know, 2 billion, 3 billion people believe in, christian, jew, muslim, there's not a rock that connects them. you're an archeologist. doesn't that sort of trouble you? >> of course, i would love to have much more concrete remains for abraham. but the meaning is so strong, i think that i can cope with the fact that archaeology's poor here. >> on the path, we met a young shepherd. and as it so happened -- what's his name? >> abraham. >> a

. >> it controls the most between egypt and mesopotamia. >> this was once a city larger than ancient and hotly contested. these young eager students laboring in the summer heat unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. so is that one skeleton? >> there are actually multiple skeletons here. >> and these massive jugs. that's so remarkably intact, isn't it? >> this is the last meal or meal for eternity for the dead person. >> megiddo was fought over by all the great empires of the region. the syrians and babylonians and the egyptians. very deep here. >> yes. and accumulation of layers. >> and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finklestein and his crew an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. >> in these 500 years, there were four major layers because of big wars. >> the wars brought turmoil. >> rioting broke out. >> think of america in the 1960s and at times like these amid the unrest and confusion, there are always a few distinctive voices

. >> the coastal route was already a centuries old trade route that extended from egypt to mesopotamiaood reason the holy family would have avoided going that way. >> so the easier way would be to cut south through the interior hill country. and by way of the area of jerusalem down to bethlehem. basically following the route that cuts through the so-called west bank today. the interior is hard because it's rugged and mountainous. there will be a lot of criminals running around. this is a third way. that is to cut east through the valley, and you follow the jordan river south towards the dead sea. when you get to the area of jericho, you cut westwards towards jerusalem. but of course, going south towards bethlehem and passing along the way, the site of where king herod the great was buried. >> the gospel according to matthew tells the story of another journey to bethlehem. it's about the wisemen who traveled from the east, guided prophecy and a star. they were looking for the newborn king of the jews, the christ child. but first they had to contend with herod the great, because the roma

. >> the coastal route was already a century old trade route that success sended from mesopotamia.s the main thoroughfare and a good reason they would have avoided going that way. >> the easier way would be to cut south through the interior hill country. and then by way of the area down to bethlehem it cuts through the west bank today. the interior is hard because it is not as rugged and if the situation is unstable security on the roads is not guaranteed a lot of criminals running around bandi bandits. cut east through the jezreel valley from nazareth then you follow the gojordan river south toward the dead sea. when you get to the city of jericho you cut up toward the direction of jerusalem. going south toward bethlehem and passing along the way the site of herod yum where king herred ro the great was buried. >> the gospel according to matthew tells the story about the wise men who traveled from the east guided by a prophecy and a star. they were looking for the newborn king of the jews the christ child. first had he to had contend with herred ro the great. the roman em tire had

>> born in mesopotamia, goes to egypt, and comes back.o connect him, i think, to the entire ark of the region. >> it's a story that's shared by about half the world. abraham's path will eventually wind through ten countries. our next stop is in the biblical land of kanaan, in what is now israel and the west bank. my guide on this part of abraham's path is abnar goran, an israeli archeologist. >> if somebody is thinking for getting back to roots, coming back to being in touch with god, the visit is always the place. >> it's almost kind of shocking to me that these immense stories that more than, you know, 2 billion, 3 billion people believe in, christian, jew, muslim, there's not a rock that connects them. you're an archeologist. doesn't that sort of trouble you? >> of course, i would love to have much more concrete remains for abraham. but the meaning is so strong, i think that i can cope with the fact that archaeology's poor here. >> on the path, we met a young shepherd. and as it so happened -- what's his name? >> abraham. >> abraham? >

. >> it controls the most between egypt and mesopotamia. >> this was once a city larger than anciently contested. these young eager students laboring in the summer heat unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. so is that one skeleton? >> there are actual multiple skeletons here. >> and these massive jugs. that's remarkably intact. >> this is the last meal or meal for eternity for the dead person. >> megido was fought over by all the great empires of the world. very deep here. >> yes. and accumulation of layers. >> and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe. providing an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. >> in these 500 years there are four major layers because of big wars. >> the wars brought turmoil. think of america in the 1960s and at times like these amid the unrest and confusion, there are always a few distinctive voices that capture the mood of the moment. the people who played that role in ancient israel are known to us now as the biblical

they were only made possible by the rise of the first city states in mesopotamia 5000 years ago. definition you could not have a conventional army without a state so until you had states you had no conventional armies which have officers and enlisted ranks in a bureaucracy in logistics and all these things we associate with conventional armed forces. but guess what? as soon as you have the very first city states of mesopotamia they were immediately attacked by nomads from the urgent highlands, sensually guerrillas. so from the very start organized militaries have always found a lot of their time fighting unconventional air regular warfare and do you know what? those terms don't make a heck of a lot of sense. that is one of the big takeaways that i had from doing six years of reading and research for this book. the way we think about this entire subject is all messed up. they think that somehow conventional warfare is the norm that the way you want to fight is to how these conventional armies slugging at out in the open but the reality is though civilized than the exception. just

collapse of this and so these three states almost exactly follow the line of what is going on of mesopotamiathat existed at the time. so i think ultimately my story is sort of -- it is the story of what happened and i think they work together in some way. so i thank you. [applause] [applause] >> having a conversation with the two authors. i think your questions will be better than mine. if you'd like to line up at the microphone, and you can start to take questions. i would really like to hear from people in the audience. >> thank you. could you say something contrasting with the criticism of israel on the one hand and the states where nature of anti-semitism and how those two things overlap, and how they should be distinguished. also, what is your vision going forward, and is it just the status quo in of israel and the west bank? and what kind of situation may be eventually possible? >> this is really incredible and the agronomist that you're talking about was my other one that was torn over this and instead it seems a coincidence here. and also my great uncle worked with this as well. and

it controls the most important highway of antiquity in the ancient near east between egypt and mesopotamia stunning hilltop in northern israel was once a city larger than ancient jerusalem and hotly contested. these young, eager students laboring in the summer heat, unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. >> so is that one skeleton? >> there are actually multiple skeletons here. >> and these massive jugs. that's so remarkably intact, isn't it? >> yeah. this is the last meal, or the meal for eternity for the dead person. >> reporter: megido was fought over by all of the great empires of the region. the assyrians, the babylonians and the egyptians. >> yes. and also the amazing accumulation of layers. >> reporter: and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finkelstein and his crew with an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. >> so we're talking about what, 500 years -- >> 500 years. >> reporter: the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. >> in these 500 years there were four major destruct

they were only made pot full by the rise of the first city state in mesopotamia about five dozen yearsago. by definition and you could not have a conventional army without a state. contiguous states commuted no conventional armies, which had officers and enlisted rank and bureaucracy in logistics and all these other things we associate with conventional armed forces. as soon as you have the very first city states in mesopotamia, they were immediately being attacked by nomad from the persian highlands. essentially, guerrillas. so from the very start, organized militaries have always been a lot of their time fighting unconventional or regular warfare. you know what? those terms don't make a heck of a lot of sense. that's one of the big takeaways i have been doing six years of reading and research for this book. the way we think about the entire subject is all messed up. we think that somehow conventional warfare is the norm. the way you have to fight divide is how conventional armies let it out in the open. the reality is that supposed an exception. take about the more modern world. what

collapse of this and so these three states almost exactly follow the line of what is going on of mesopotamiaexisted at the time. so i think ultimately my story is sort of -- it is the story of what happened and i think they work together in some way. so i thank you. [applause] [applause] >> having a conversation with the two authors. i think your questions will be better than mine. if you'd like to line up at the microphone, and you can start to take questions. i would really like to hear from people in the audience. >> thank you. could you say something contrasting with the criticism of israel on the one hand and the states where nature of anti-semitism and how those two things overlap, and how they should be distinguished. also, what is your vision going forward, and is it just the status quo in of israel and the west bank? and what kind of situation may be eventually possible? >> this is really incredible and the agronomist that you're talking about was my other one that was torn over this and instead it seems a coincidence here. and also my great uncle worked with this as well. and one t

it controls the most important highway of antiquity in the ancient near east between egypt and mesopotamiaisrael was once a city larger than ancient jerusalem and hotly contested. these young, eager students laboring in the summer heat unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. so is that one skeleton? >> there are actually multiple skeletons here. >> and these massive jugs. that's so remarkably intact, isn't it? >> yeah. this is the last meal, or the meal for eternity for the dead person. >> megiddo was fought over by all of the great empires of the region. the assyrians, the babylonians and the egyptians. >> yes. and also the amazing accumulation of layers. >> and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finkelstein and his crew with an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. >> so we're talking about what, 500 years -- >> 500 years. >> the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. >> in these 500 years there were four major destruction layers at megiddo because of big wars. >> reporter: the war

armenians, the appellations the african americans in jim-crow the native americans the muslims the mesopotamia'sthe jews and the holocaust. i specialize in asking the question that must be asked what was the role. of course it organized all six phases when i did my book we talked about genocide in by america against 90 percent of its own citizens but the greatest powers in this country the intellectual and progressively to buy corporate money and philanthropy. the carnegie institution resulted in the sterilization of some 60,000 americans and the untold erasure of untold numbers of people who were never born. this is what got me into the realm of philanthropic abuse. i became studied in the topic of charities who take their money for non charitable purpose people of course, genocide. about ten years ago i was assigned by the j. al qaeda that is the jewish news syndicate to investigate the ford foundation fur and funding numerous groups in the united states in the u. n durbin conference against racism and these are organizations with blatantly anti-semitic anti zionist and anti-israel anti piece.