Zionism: a Primer. Bill Kelsey talks about Zionism and its origins - a podcast by Abe Abdelhadi

Pilot and Arabist, Bill Kelsey talks about the origins of Zionism and the current state of Israel. He explains that the region’s issues haven’t “been there forever.” Going back to the 18th and 19th centuries, in Europe, Kelsey discusses the colonial settler construct that led to the formation of modern day Israel and who really paid the price. As a toddler, Kelsey first went to Jordan accompanying his father on an archeology dig at Dothan near Jenin, on the West Bank, controlled by Jordan at the time. His father then continued his career as a Baptist pastor and the family lived in Amman through the spring of 1967. He also lived in Beirut for the first two years of high school. After returning to the U.S. in 1967, Kelsey continued to travel to the Arab World and kept up with Arabic studies and studying the history of the Israel/Arab conflict. He is fluent in Arabic. Professionally, he worked as a bush pilot doing mostly humanitarian aviation in Africa and Asia for the last two decades. His last job was flying medevac combat casualties in South Sudan.