Israel & Palestine
Using “Anti-Semitism” to Defeat Jeremy Corbyn
He’s spoken openly about his concern for justice for Palestinians. As Jeremy Corbyn is continuing to rise as he leads the traditional left Labour Party of the United Kingdom, his detractors are working feverishly to discredit him as an anti-Semite.
Israel’s New Nation-State Law: Codifying Apartheid
At least it’s now out in the open. All Israelis who are not Jewish have had their rights diminished. Given the longstanding discrimination against non-white non-European Jews, Palestinians and Druze are now just third class citizens. Prime Minister Netanyahu described
Saudi Power in Washington: Harming America in the Middle East
Americans are just beginning to learn about our deadly role for the Saudi war in Yemen. For many decades and many presidents, the Saudi royal family has held great sway in Washington. Today the famine and cholera outbreak in Yemen,
16 Year Old Girl Takes on Israeli Military
If you are a sixteen year old girl, standing up to the men of the Israeli military is highly risky. You may not have heard of Ahed Tamimi. She is being held in an Israeli jail for slapping an Israeli
Free Speech Threatened By Anti-BDS Bill
Now and in the future, if certain opinions are not popular with the government in power, they can be prosecuted. Under the current bill S 720, which actually has Democratic sponsors, if a person even inquires about which companies may
BDS at 12: The Fight Against it Shows It’s Working
It took a long time but Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions worked to end South African Apartheid. Now powerful forces are working in the US congress to penalize businesses and individuals who express support for BDS against the State of Israel.
US Pilots As Bait in War With Syria
In the 21st century, it seems every new war is a “humanitarian intervention.” Our guest on this show, Jim Kavanagh of Counterpunch defines that as just more “missionary imperialism.” As the US quickly ramps up its war against the government
Israel: Nationalism Replaces Religion
It’s starting to fade. The unquestioned backing by Jewish Americans for the State of Israel is slipping. As author Allan C Browfield discusses, Zionism actually has a short shelf life among Jewish Americans. Before 1948, it was condemned by most
Time to Ditch The Saudis?//Clinton Foundation: Smoke But No Fire? Really?
Through twelve administrations, the US has been tight with the Saudi government. On part one, Medea Benjamin talks about her new book: Kingdom of the Unjust: behind the US-Saudi Connections. She argues it’s time to cut the cord, they are
Under and Over 70: The Israel Divide
Is the dream over? The socialist democratic Israel our parents generation dreamed of is not the right wing Israel we see today.What’s happening with Jewish Americans who are under 70? Why does the right wing Israel lobby still have so
DNC Platform on War: Not Hopeless
It’s been called the most progressive Democratic Party platform ever, but in terms of foreign policy, it’s pretty much as militaristic as ever. On this show, Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies dissects the foreign policy aspects of
A Tough Vote Forward
With Trump as president, it would be a major effort to just move back to the center. With Hillary Clinton, and sustained pressure from progressives, forward motion is possible, if difficult. This is for progressives thinking about the election. Michael
Serfs on a Debt Plantation//Palestine at the Democratic Convention
How do you like paying interest to use your own money? According to Mike Krauss of the Public Banking Institute, it doesn’t have to be that way. We can replace the privately held Federal Reserve system and use the treasury
What Could Have Been: RFK, The Making of a Liberal Icon
From ruthless cold warrior to taking on his nemesis LBJ over the war in Vietnam, was Bobby Kennedy an opportunist? Who was the “runt” of the Kennedy litter? In this remarkable interview, bestselling author Larry Tye tells us how Bobby’s
Spatialized Blackness In Chicago
They sought a better life from the Jim Crow South and freedom, but what they found was something else. It may not be bricks and mortar prison, but black citizens have been intentionally limited to specific areas on the map
Democracy Endangered in Israel
And not just for Palestinians. With the ascent of the nationalistic right, even Jewish Israelis are feeling the sting of government assaults on democracy. Allan Brownfeld, editor of the magazine of The American Council for Judaism, explains how democracy is
Making Saudis Share the Neighborhood
They’ve been the big boys ruling their neighborhood for half a century. They really don’t want to give it up, but with their war in Yemen hurting their standing (and America’s) and the dropping price of oil, they are being
Obama in Cuba and Argentina: How Much of a Change//The Anti-AIPAC March and Rally
How significant a change in policy toward Latin America does Obama’s trip to Havana mean? As Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy research explains, while the opening to Cuba is beneficial, it seems the American tradition
Money, weapons, silence: US and Saudis vs Iran
On January 2, 2016, our great ally, the Saudi government, cut the heads off 47 prisoners, including the revered Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Shiite Iran was none too pleased. Tensions between them are at an all time high. Guest on
Killing As Many Civilians as Possible:WWI and ISIS
The horror of ISIS terrorism today grew from the “peace” imposed by the most powerful Western nations on the former Ottoman Empire at the finish of the first world war, a war that never ended. Many more civilians were killed
The Arab Spring: What Went So Wrong?
http://media.blubrry.com/keeping_democracy_alive/www.dropbox.com/s/6issbyw42inhgle/ArabSpringRedux.mp3?dl=0It started out so promising: peaceful revolutions for self-determination. From Tunisia through Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and of course Syria. Now Tunisia is the only stable secular democracy, and on this show author and professor Rebecca Gordon sheds light on
The Arab Spring: What Went So Wrong?
It started out so promising: peaceful revolutions for self-determination. From Tunisia through Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and of course Syria. Now Tunisia is the only stable secular democracy, and on this show author and professor Rebecca Gordon sheds light on
The Arab Spring: What Went So Wrong?
It started out so promising: peaceful revolutions for self-determination. From Tunisia through Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and of course Syria. Now Tunisia is the only stable secular democracy, and on this show author and professor Rebecca Gordon sheds light on
Turkey and ISIS, Syria and Russia Explained
A hundred were killed in a peaceful rally in Ankara: who did it and why? It seems to have been ISIS, which our ally, the Erdogan government of Turkey, is actually helping. meanwhile our enemy, Putin’s Russia is helping to
Stability Coming to Syria and Iraq
Despite the fact that the US inadvertently created ISIS and is still arming the wrong people, and despite the fact that the US and Russia seem to be on opposite sides, Ambassador Peter Galbraith argues the region is on a
The Migrant Crisis: Historic Transformation?
We’ve all seen the images: refugees crammed in rubber rafts, mobbed trains, young children drowned in the seas. Hundreds of thousands are leaving war zones in hopes of a better life. But in Europe there are those who want to
The Real Troublemaker in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia
Republican presidential wannabes fall over themselves to see who can hate Iran the most. And of course, ISIS is despicable. Yet with all their state run beheadings and human rights abuses, somehow Saudi Arabia remains America’s best Arab ally. Guest
Gaza: One Year After
Would any other country have gotten away with it? It might be best called Israeli Exceptionalism. After a 51 day war on the Gaza Strip, more than 2,200 Palestinians died and the infrastructure was devastated. Seventy seven Israelis died, all
Without This Ingredient, No Peace in Israel/Palestine
Trading land for peace. Overwhelming military force. Drawn out negotiations. Compromises on this or that. None of it has worked nor can it when it comes to creating a sustainable peace in the Israel/Palestine region. Viewing the decades long crisis
Orthodox Rabbi: “Zionists Bring Danger Upon Jews”
Most of the world seems to think that the State of Israel and Judaism are one and the same. They are not. Where Judaism is thousands of years old and lived for peace with Muslims and Christians in what Rabbi