Grayzone and Jimmy Dore Events for Peace
September 1, 2025
“We are headed into darker times. War could return to Iran at any moment.” – Max Blumenthal, founder of The Grayzone news site
“We are in extremely dangerous times. You need to know the truth but you act on it at your own peril.” – Judge Andrew Napolitano, host of the podcast “Judging Freedom”
Both of these dire predictions were made at an event called Icarus Fest sponsored by The Grayzone and featuring its courageous journalists. Nonetheless, there was hope in the 150 or so dissident voices united to support peace and end US funding for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Attendees traveled to the Williams Center Rutherford, New Jersey from all over the US including Seattle for a day of discussion and Q&A. The audience was also united in its admiration for the brave correspondents who spoke. Later that evening comedian, broadcaster, podcaster and fellow dissident voice for peace Jimmy Dore performed. His stand-up act proved by speaking truth to power and fiercely defending the First Amendment, he is carrying on the legacy of the late, great George Carlin.
With Judge Napolitano’s presence, The Grayzone event was an opportunity for the populist progressive/socialist “left” and populist libertarian/constitutionist “right” to bypass divide and rule strategy of the oligarchs to unite for peace and diplomacy in opposition to Zionist, British and global elitist control over US foreign policy. These destructive forces are waging wars attempting to prop up the failing empire and the biased, controlled media manufacturing consent with its pro-war propaganda. A week earlier, Judge Napolitano moderated a panel featuring Blumenthal and his wife, journalist Anya Parampil, at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity “Blueprint for Peace” conference held near, as Blumenthal calls it, “the corridor of death” lined with the paid conspirators of the military industrial complex.
Event topics were Ukraine, NATO and the War for Eurasia; Greater Israel: Where Does It End?; and American Empire in the Age of Trump. Thaddeus Russell moderated the panel on Ukraine comprised of Wyatt Reed and Kit Klarenberg. Grayzone journalists have been enduring “horrendous” circumstances attempting to cover the war in Donbas. Dissent is treated as treason, and accordingly, these reporters have been de-banked, arrested, censored, and accused of being terrorists or agents for Iran, Russia, and/or China. Americans are mostly ignorant about the war run by elites for the empire, Russell stated, and US foreign policy has been ruled by an irrational fear of Russia dating back for centuries. Interestingly, he pointed out Russia supported the American Revolution. The concept of total world dominance is a British idea and Russia is standing in the way of complete conquest by these globalists. It is not for us to decide how Russia handles the LBGTQ+ issue, one speaker noted.
Greater Israel panel moderator Sabby Sabs said the hatred of Palestinians is embedded in the culture in Israel. Israeli policy is putting Jews at risk with its celebration of genocide, Katie Halper said, and called those denying the murder of Palestinian children “morally bankrupt, foul ghouls. “ Being anti-Zionist is a key to her identity as a Jew, she noted, but anti-Zionist Jews are dismissed as self-hating. Journalists attempting to report the atrocities in Gaza have been killed. Blumenthal astutely noted Zionism is a messianic secular movement enforced by people who don’t believe in God yet they believe God gave them the land. No change in US policy is possible until AIPAC registers as an agent for a foreign government. Jeffrey Loffredo related details about his arrest and interrogation by Israel, how he was given emasculating pink sandals to wear and consigned to solitary confinement, and how he endured his regular requirement to subject himself to interrogation by the Israeli military.
During the panel on empire, Judge Napolitano, who described himself as an “antiwar and anti-empire fanatic” asked why no viable antiwar movement exists in America. There is currently no draft, responded Christian Parenti. Conscription, along with the evening network news’ exposure of the atrocities as well as the bodies of US soldiers in flag-draped coffins, ended public support for the Vietnam War. Aaron Mate blamed former President Obama who told protesters to go home; the DNC which concocted the Russiagate fable after the 2016 presidential election, and Hillary Clinton who refused to criticize the neoliberals. “A sub-culture of total intolerance spirals down to irrelevant issues,” he noted, while critical issues like war are submerged. Anya Parampil, citing the Founding Fathers’ non-interventionist perspective, explained why and how Trump is attempting to topple the government in Venezuela. Parenti talked about the unreality of those trying to keep the empire going and the repression of free speech at US universities. Napolitano denounced the arrests of law firm attorneys and the existence of 850 overseas US military bases.
Jimmy Dore passionately ranted in support of free speech and against censorship violating the First Amendment with laws to persecute and censor critics of US foreign policy or Israel. He appeals to his audience to understand they are being manipulated to fight each other when they should unite against the oligarchs to oppose the wars. “We live in an age of spectatorship, not spiritualism,” he said, describing himself as a “lazy Catholic” who has had personal experiences that have given him a knowing he will spiritually live forever.
Grayzone event videos are here.
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