Chris Gauvreau, CT Activist Responds to FBI Raids

Talk Nation Radio for September 30, 2010

Chris Gauvreau, CT Activist Responds to FBI Raids

Connecticut Groups Oppose FBI Raids on Unions and Peace Groups

Chris Gauvreau of Connecticut United for Peace discusses the uniting of her group with CAIR, the Council of American-Islamic Relations, in CT, http://www.cair-ct.com/ as they join other peace groups in vowing to keep on fighting policies of U.S. intervention, and demanding jobs. They see the latest rounds of FBI arrests and grand jury subpoenas as an outrage.


Produced by Dori Smith
TRT:29:00
Download at Pacifica’s audioport here and at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Peace groups and union leaders in coalition with them have been organizing ahead of a national demonstration in Washington D.C. and we discuss the impact of FBI raids on peace activists who will be facing grand juries in early October. Groups are re declaring their commitment after the FBI has arrested and subpoenaed leaders in Chicago and Minneapolis just one week prior to their national protest.


Talk Nation Radio for September 30, 2010
Peace groups have set up a web site to discuss the crisis here. Chris Gauvreau offers advice to people who have been arrested or who fear they might be arrested in the ongoing FBI sweeps that have affected Quakers, Catholic Workers, the Thomas Merton House, Greenpeace, and groups working for Palestinian rights such as the Arab American Action Network. Their executive director, Hatem Abudayyeh of Chicago, is one of those subjected to an FBI raid and subpoenaed to a grand jury.

Why did FBI agents take these repressive measure now in spite of a Department of Justice review of their actions targeting the very same types of groups? They were criticized by the DOJ for applying 'war on terror' rules when targeting peace activists, yet they are claiming the very same grounds now. What is up with the FBI, and is it incompetence or a carefully planned political attack?

New reports (wire services) indicate that 22 FBI employees were just found to have cheated on tests during an open book exam on agent guidelines.The Office of the Inspector General found the cheating, and Inspector General Glenn Fine said, "We believe the extent of the cheating...was greater than the cases we detailed in this report." The Hartford Courant.

Chris Gauvreau has recently presented arguments against peace groups organizing a “right-left” coalition. We fold these comments into our program as part of a discussion on the wider political implications, and also air clips of what Noam Chomsky said during an interview with Tom Ashbrook of ‘On Point Radio.‘ The show is an NPR daily program produced out of Boston’s WBUR. They titled their interview with Chomsky: Noam Chomskey on U.S. Rage, Ruin. They have lately been taking a look at how anger is affecting voters ahead of the U.S. Congressional races November 2, 2010. Chomsky mentioned that there is a rising fascist trend in the United States. He also discussed the Republican Party as having deteriorated, and said members of the tea party are waiting to be organized.

These are voters who are being misinformed and who can’t vote their self interests until they have the facts. Chomsky is also calling on people who are being critical of the Tea Party voters to see some of what they are saying as a “cry for help”. The Democrats are not reaching out to them he argues.

Chris Gauvreau agrees with Chomsky and she has also said that the leadership on the right could not be helpful in building a national coalition of the majority. So it is a matter of addressing individual voters, not demagogic leaders using slogans, targeting Social Security, and in some cases using xenophobic and even racist language. Listen to her entire speech here along with other views about this topic:
http://www.thestruggle.org/MediaP.htm

Grading On A Curve, Pt. 1

If you haven't figured it out yet, I watch a lot of movies. I've always loved film, since I was a little kid. I mostly watch genre films, but I do take in the occasional mainstream flick ( I saw Up In The Air the other night, for example). Even amongst genre films, there's a wide variety to be found. For example, I did enjoy the two Iron Man movies, and I think the latest two Batman films are pretty damn good, genre or not. Still, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the independent film/ low budget movie, be it a labor of love or the quick exploitation flick.

A while back, I was discussing a movie ( don't remember which one) with a friend, and she , at one point in the conversation, said,"Is it a low-budget movie?", using the same tones one might use when looking at the bottom of their shoe after stepping in something. I'm telling you, just like I told her, low-budget isn't neccessarily a sign of low value.

Consider the average Hollywood movie...it takes millions to make one, once it's all said and done. A big expense is getting a big-name 'Star' to be in your flick. All those digital effects , locations, and everything else add up to a hefty price tag. So, why do most Hollywood movies suck? Well, a lot of these so-called 'Stars' can't act their way out of a paper bag. Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of 'effects ' movies, but most of the CGI I see in movies looks fake to me...maybe I just have too good of an eye for that sort of thing. The money sure as hell isn't being spent on scripts , that's for sure. Need a movie? Let's just do a movie version of an old TV show! Better yet, let's remake a great film from the 70s, or from a different country, but leave out everything that made it special in the first place! As always, there are exceptions, but for the most part, this is Hollywood.

Now, take into consideration the guy who lives somewhere that's not Hollywood, (say, the Midwest) who is shooting his movie on weekends, putting everything he has(which, admittedly, isn't much, at least financially speaking) into his work. OK, maybe the make-up and digital effects aren't the greatest. Maybe the actors aren't name actors, or possibly aren't all that good at acting. But maybe the story is clever, or has some thing unique to it . Maybe a few of the actors are doing a good job. Maybe this little homegrown film has something a bit different that you'll find entertaining, that you won't find at the big cineplexes.

When I decide how much I like a film (or if I even like it at all), there's a few factors that go into it. I do grade on a curve...I cut a lot more slack for the independent filmmaker, the 'Little Guy', if you will. Why? Think about it. How many big-budget Hollywood films have you seen that cost millions of dollars to make, and still sucked? Now, think about the low-budget guy, whose entire production costs don't equal the cost for craft services on the aforementioned Hollywood flick. I can be a bit forgiving if his zombie make-ups aren't top-notch, or if a few actors in his ensemble aren't ready for Shakespeare. But the movie that cost a gazillion dollars? Those fuckers have no excuse, in my book. They could hire better writers, have better effects, and get better actors.


Ultimately, whatever the budget, genre, etc, the main criteria I judge a film on is , did it entertain me? Did I get caught up in it, for whatever reason? To me, whether it's a film, a book, or even a song, if I can get pulled in to the point where I forget everything else while I'm watching/reading/listening to it, then that to me is the mark of a good piece of entertainment. If it also makes me think, or teaches me something, even better. But mostly, did it involve me? Did it make me feel something?

What criteria do you judge a flim by? Do you only see certain types of films? Do you only see the big-name flicks, or do you take a chance on something unheard of, just to check it out? I'm curious.

October 9th CELEBRATION with Poetry, Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Willimantic, Connecticut

October 9th CELEBRATION with Poetry, Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Willimantic, Connecticut The line up will include Poetry, Dance, Music and Visual Arts, plus the writer Wally Lamb.




Download an interview with organizers Marge and David Schneider here.

Willimantic Makes it Happen and the Rays of Hope Project have a fun evening in store for you.

It’s a celebration with Poets, Dancers, Musicians, and Visual Artists, featuring writer Wally Lamb at the Capital Theater in Willimantic Connecticut on October 9th 2010. The event features some of the artists featured in Wally Lamb’s latest book, 'I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison' (2007). Plus world music, Afro, Celtic, Jazz and Funk: the music of Alvin Carter with African Drum, Katherine Blossom on Celtic Harp, Richard McGhee with flute and Peter Onofrio on Digeridoo, and singers Margaux Hayes and gospel singer Tonya Cherry May round out the program. Contact Margedavidpeace@yahoo.com for tickets and information.

There will be an auction run by the Mayor Ernest Eldridge, and you could wind up with 2 tickets to an African safari! The CELEBRATION is a chance to find great items, and you will be helping deserving people who have recovered from hard times to get what they need the most, JOBS.

This is the culminating event for the CooperARTiva fiesta that will be going on all day October 9th on Main Street in Willimantic, where people can workshop on how to trade job skills cooperatively. The doors open at 6:00 PM at the Capital Theater, 896 Main St., Willimantic, the curtain opens at 7:00 PM. Again for further information contact Marge or David Schneider for tickets at margedavidpeace@yahoo.com, or 860-872-6899.

Brad Friedman Troubleshoots our Voting Systems ahead of the November 2, 2010 Congressional Elections

Talk Nation Radio for September 23, 2010

Brad Friedman Troubleshoots our Voting Systems
ahead of the November 2, 2010 Congressional Elections

Voting special Number 1 for the 2010 Congressional Election on November 2, 2010

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's audioport here
Or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Brad Friedman of Bradblog.com joins us with an overview of the nation's voting systems as we approach the November 2nd, Congressional election. He has used his http://www.bradblog.com web site to document problems with the nations voting machines for years. We talk about the latest round of problems with voting machines and with absentee ballots, voter rolls, numbers that don't add up and more.

Brad Friedman raises questions: Did Tea Party Republican Christine O'Donnell actually win Delaware? He says no one can actually prove that she did. Meanwhile, angry Republicans have filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against O'Donnell, but they are looking at campaign contributions and public outreach.

-Meg Whitman's attack on former President Bill CLinton about what amounted to a CNN error. "Billionaire Meg Whitman, a former EBay CEO who surpassed the $100 million mark in campaign spending nearly a month prior to the traditional Labor Day kickoff of the Fall campaign, who, by Sept. 16, had donated a record-smashing $119 million of her own funds to her campaign, who refused to meet with former California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and Republican State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poisner in a pre-primary debate, has knowingly sought to fill the gaping knowledge deficit created by the corporate media's gross neglect of its fourth estate responsibilities with disinformation about Brown, her Democratic opponent". (From Bradblog.com)

How much negative campaigning can voters take and how much can wealthy candidates like Whitman or Republican Linda McMahon spend? Both gained razor sharp corporate skills, but are they running their campaigns more like CEO's than candidates?

As Linda McMahon campaigns for the U.S. Senate being vacated by long time Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, she is promising to spend as much as it takes to win. She has been saturating local TV and radio with negative attack ads about Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and some have questioned her judgment. Still she has pulled to near even with Blumenthal. But how much money are corporations contributing to candidates? They don't have to say.

We also hear about faulty voting machines and systems, it's Diebold again, and we hear about problems in Shelby County in Memphis, Tennessee where ten candidates filed lawsuit and in Alaska where Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski now plans to run as a write-in candidate after losing her GOP primary race to "Tea Party" candidate Joe Miller. Can the voting machine system really function for write in candidates?

http://www.bradblog.com

This program is produced in Storrs, Connecticut and syndicated nationally with Pacifica Network. Our web site is talknationradio.org and you can write to us at talknationradio@gmail.com. Our theme music is by Fritz Heede.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. New at jeremyrhammond.com, “Newly Disclosed Documents Shed More Light on Early Taliban Offers, Pakistan Role”, a review of Taliban proposals to turn over Osama bin Laden and Pakistani efforts to get the U.S. to negotiate with the Taliban on their offers.”

Talk Nation Radio interview with Jeremy R. Hammond Has the US been fomenting unrest in Iran? here

Jerry Lembcke interviewed by Dori Smith on his book, Hanoi Jane, part 2

Talk Nation Radio for September 15, 2010,
Jerry Lembcke on his book, Hanoi Jane, part 2

Produced by, Dori Smith in Storrs, Connecticut and syndicated with Pacifica Network
TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org. Here is an active link: http://ia360700.us.archive.org/11/items/AnInterviewWithJerryLembckeOnHisBookHanoiJanePart2/2010-09-15-Jerry-Lembcke-Part2-Myths-and-War-Vietnam-to-Iraq-Afghanistan.mp3



We hear more from Vietnam War veteran and scholar Jerry Lembcke as we continue our conversation about propaganda, myths, and war, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Jerry Lembcke is a Professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross and served as a chaplain’s assistant during the war. His 2010 book about actress Jane Fonda is titled, 'Hanoi Jane, War, Sex, and Fantasies of Betrayal' published by University of Massachusetts Press, 2010. (See Amazon)

Jane Fonda visited Vietnam in 1972 as one of hundreds of peace activists. They were trying to reach out to the enemy and send a message to both the American people and U.S. forces, that the war was wrong. Like others before her including Pete Seeger and Noam Chomsky, she made an appeal for peace on Radio Hanoi, accusing the Nixon administration of lying to the troops. Her message to U.S. pilots according to Lembcke was, 'If they told you the truth, you wouldn’t fight, you wouldn’t kill'.

Jane Fonda was accused of demoralizing the troops and POW's with the broadcasts. Yet during his research for the book, Jerry Lembcke had trouble finding any U.S. veterans who remembered even hearing the radio dispatch. It was in fact the hard right wing, the John Birch society, even the Klu Klux Klan* that went after Jane Fonda. They began calling her Hanoi Jane and making all sorts of charges that she was a traitor. The FBI had in fact created a file on her, and Jerry Lembcke found an undated page stating that Fonda “denied being a Communist”. A memo from 1972 classifying her though as quote: “not dangerous”. It was the height of the Cold War, but there are many similarities to what is happening in the media today,

During the Vietnam War era many Americans were struggling to cope with the heavy cost of the war and confidence in the Nixon administration was shaky. There were regular news reports showing the devastating consequences of U.S. carpet bombing on Vietnamese civilians in vivid detail.

The Hanoi Jane myth was later folded into Hollywood’s portrayal of soldiers who were psychologically damaged by the war. The crisis in confidence that was really caused by the fact that the U.S. Military lost Saigon, was covered up in a smokescreen of excuses about U.S. peace activists like Fonda who were supposedly causing the loss, and because of her tremendous beauty she was also accused of castrating soldiers. In truth, the soldiers became invisible, replaced by macho mythology that helped to disguise America’s failed policy and hide those responsible for it.

During the Presidency of George W. Bush, and in the wake of 9/11, rhetoric about U.S. war policies was in many ways similar to rhetoric from former President Nixon. Americans were divided into hawks versus doves, and Nixon created a political smokescreen, covering up policy failures by turning U.S. attention to questions of honor. He was talking about a cessation of hostilities, but at the same time escalating U.S. forces.

The Vietnam War was very costly to both the U.S. and Vietnamese forces. There were 58,159 U.S. military casualties, more than 303,000 were seriously wounded. The highest price for the war, however, was paid by the people of Indochina. U.S. bombing and ground war killed most of the 4 million civilians who perished in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The famous CBS News man, Walter Cronkite said of April 29, 1975, the day U.S. forces were airlifted from Saigon, that it was "a mad dash out the door into the parking lot for the waiting helicopter. And then it was farewell to Vietnam." He also said, 'We should be very cautious. We should be sure that we understand what we're getting into when we dabble in the affairs of other nations. And that is particularly true when dabbling gets to the point of committing military forces'. Walter Cronkite reflecting on U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

Attack of the Remakes

I'm not here today to talk about a particular film, but to address a cinematic phenomenon that's plaguing the Silver Screen lately...I'm talking about the Remake.

In the past several years, remakes have popped up like weeds in the yard that is Film. It seems like there's more remakes than original productions these days. There are remakes of older films, and even worse, films that are remakes of old TV shows...really, did we need a Dukes of Hazard or an A-Team movie?

Many of the films that have been remade were classics from the 70s or early 80s. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and Dawn of the Dead are just a few of the films that fall into this category. Besides the fact that most of the people in charge in Hollywood seem to have a definite lack of originality or imagination, I think that name recognition is a main factor in these films being remade. The other is that the main demographic of cinemagoers, that is teens, have probably not seen these films.

I've only seen one of these remakes, that one being Dawn. At the insistance of a friend, I watched it. Was it terrible? No. Was it a total waste of time? No. Was it as good as the original? No. Was it at least good enough to warrant its existance? I think not. If the filmmakers just made their own zombie film, I probably wouldn't have a problem with it. But to call it by the same title as the original classic, well, that's calling a firecracker a cannon....call it what you will, it just don't measure up. It was just unneccesary.

I know that some probably prefer the remakes over the originals. I read a book on zombie films recently that went so far as to say the remake of Dawn was better than George Romero's original undead opus. The writer of that book may truly believe that, but I believe that sometimes critics try to make a name for themselves by stirring the pot, and one way to do that is to attack established heroes and innovators of genres...I think they also get some kind of kick out of pissing fans off ( I've seen it in literary circles, too, where authors that have a following are slagged for whatever reason...Robert E. Howard, for example).

You can probably guess where I stand on the issue of remakes...but there are , as with all things (pun intended), exceptions to the rule. Two such exceptions that come to mind are John Carpenter's The Thing and David Cronenberg's The Fly. These were remakes done in the 80s instead of remakes of films from the 80s. Both films took their 50s sci-fi film source material as a mere starting point and made radical departures from the original source material. Carpenter's film was an excercize in paranoia , gore, and shape-shifting horror, and Cronenberg's film was , like most of his work, a tale of body horror . What makes these remakes stand head-and -mutated-shoulders above other remakes? First, they're both very well-done films. They took a films that were, let's face it, not all that great ( James Arness in a hokey monster suit and a guy with a big fly's head) and made masterpieces . The respective filmmakers took the material and put their own distinct spin on it. My problem with the Dawn remake is that the source material wasn't improved on ...unless you think fast-running zombies are the shit, then congrats, I got a movie for you. I suspect the same holds true for the other remakes lurking about.

The other remake trend I need to address here is that of the American Version Of A Great Foriegn Film. Case in point: Let Me In, the completely and totally unnecessary remake of the brilliant Swedish film Let The Right One In. The original, if you haven't seen it, is a wonderful movie...the best vampire film I've probably seen, and a damn good film in general. I think I can pin down the reasons this (and other foriegn films) is being remade instead of being put into wider release. Reason #1- Too much subltety, and dare I say it, artisticality( Is that even a word? Must be the Woodchuck hard cider talking). There are scenes of violence and gore, but they're interspersed with scenes of beauty and quiet, which aren't associated with Big Box Office Bucks here in the U.S. Reason #2-SUBTITLES. Gods forbid if we have to actually read while at the movies...might have an embolism or something. Hollywood makes assumptions on what we, as moviegoers, will watch, or want to watch.

So here's where I want your input, people. What do you think of remakes? What do you like to see in films? Are subtitles a deal-breaker for you? Is Hollywood correct in their take on the great unwashed masses waiting to watch movies? Do you think that your average American moviegoer wants something original, or the same old shit? What do you want? As for me, there's only so many hours in the day, and I'd rather watch some clever low-budget film , a Japanese-made splatterfest with cute girls and ridiculous body weapons , or a Norwegian Nazi Zombie epic ,than yet another remake of a classic (or not so classic) 70s/80s fright film. Talk to me, folks.

Jerry Lembcke on Propaganda, Myths, and War, from Vietnam to Iraq

Talk Nation Radio for September 9, 2010

Scholar and Vietnam War veteran Jerry Lembcke joins us to talk about propaganda, myths, and war, from Vietnam to Iraq. Who betrayed U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War era? Who is betraying them today? We discuss the similarities along with imagery in popular culture that now substitutes for real history lessons.



Jerry Lembcke is a professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross. His 2010 book about actress Jane Fonda is titled, 'Hanoi Jane, War, Sex, and Fantasies of Betrayal'. His previous book was, 'The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam'. He has been trying to set the record straight about war in general and he is exposing a political tactic of scapegoating peace activists like famed actress Jane Fonda.

Jerry Lembcke has explained that stories about US soldiers being spat upon as they returned home have been wildly exaggerated to the point where people get the impression of peace activists lining up to spit on returning soldiers as they arrived at airports. (Does that sound like the peace activists you know?) In fact, the spitting myths are but one of many devices used by the right to attack the left, and in the process bury the truth about the lives of U.S. soldiers and the Vietnam War.

Jane Fonda is blamed, peace activists are blamed, for U.S. failures, rather than the architects of the Vietnam War war itself. Such rewriting of history adjusts our attention away from grotesque U.S. policy blunders and atrocities.

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT, syndicated with Pacifica Network
TRT: 29:25
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here and at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Since the 2004 swift boat propaganda campaign against then Presidential candidate John Kerry, U.S. political campaigns have seemed more like a review of Vietnam War era 'patriotism' than current Iraq and Afghan War policies. The glaring absence of real debate about America’s trillion dollar wars has left a void that the political right wing has stepped into just ahead of the 2010 Congressional vote. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, is boosting fear and anger with appearances on US television. He is re-framing political discourse about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, into an old-fashioned cold war era battle against Islamic extremism. Blair helped former President George W. Bush, former VP Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, sell the Iraq War back in 2003 and 2003. He is now doing the same thing for President Obama, arguing that if he were still in office he would likely attack Iran. Blair refuses to admit that he was wrong about the invasion of Iraq based on the argument that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He didn't. We hear clips of Blair onPBS and ABC.

The cost of war against Iran today would be immeasurable, would likely kill millions according to global security experts. The general public is nevertheless being denied real media debate about the costs. In fact, the American people are not getting the truth about the motivations of those who are designing new rhetoric about old arguments for attacking Iran. An additional cost of such an action could be the reinstatement of a military draft.

We review an era when the draft pulled in lots of different kinds of Americans, many of whom would eventually become peace activists like Jerry Lembcke. Why were their stories folded into a new narrative, who has distorted Vietnam War history, and why?

The most important truth about the cost of the Vietnam War is that 58,159 US Military personnel were killed, over 303,000 were wounded, many suffered in Indochinese POW camps. Four million Indochinese civilians perished during saturation bombing by US forces and in the ground warfare. (From U.S. Military records available online and Wiki, in more detail: here and here for civilian casualty numbers.)

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. “New at JeremyRHammond.com, the piece, ‘Turning Back From the Point of No Return: Implications of the Threat to Bomb Iran.’ He wrote it to counter the public narrative arguing that an air strike on Iran might be necessary in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust.”

Josh Ruebner on Israeli and Palestinian Talks in DC

Talk Nation Radio for September 3, 2010
Josh Ruebner on Israeli and Palestinian Talks in DC

He is national advocacy director for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation And Marine Biologist Dr. Samantha Joye, Journalist Dahr Jamail, chemical dispersants breaking up oil but making toxicity in Gulf of Mexico worse.

First, this news about an oil and natural gas platform explosion about 100 miles off Louisiana's central coast in the Gulf of Mexico. An oil sheen was detectable for about a mile near the site owned by Mariner energy. We’ve not been able to determine if Mariner has used dispersants in the area. Spokespersons for the company say they will now try to learn what they can from the BP spill. Hopefully, that will include information from marine biologists who have found that dispersants like Corexit could make the environmental damage from the accident worse.

According to an article in Deep Sea News notes that fifty percent of studies found that chemical additives inhibited microbial degradation and the other half of studies didn’t find any significant difference between treatment and control groups. The author, Bik, (part two of the story) reports that the most toxic components of oil, the Polyaromatic Hydrocarbans, are not biodegraded by dispersants. This has been known for at least two years.
Marine Biologist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia told us that she feels it was a mistake for BP to use the dispersants in the Gulf.

Journalist Dahr Jamail has been reporting from the Gulf of Mexico and found ample evidence that the Corexit dispersant being sprayed from planes, poured, and distributed via automatic pumps, in the Gulf, is dangerous to both marine life and human beings. (See also the litigation involving BP, Corexit, and Earth Justice here in the July 14, 2010, piece by Brian Smith, 'Earthjustice Sues EPA for Oil Dispersant Safety Information').



TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's audioport here
also at Radio4all.net and archive.org plus archive.org

Josh Ruebner, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation discusses the U.S. led talks between Palestinians and Israelis begin with news of an attack by Hamas. We discuss the talks in context with both headline news and the problems inherent to such talks dating back to the Oslo accords.

This week's program is dedicated to Karin Norton who has been battling major illness. Karin has been devoted to peace and justice causes as a professional social worker and activist. She spent more than ten years as the public affairs director for WHUS radio, a Pacifica affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. She has served as an advisor to this and other radio programs going back to the 1980s and 90s and she has been a true friend. The Israeli human rights organization B'tselem has condemned an attack by Hamas which killed four Israeli civilians just prior to peace talks in Washington, D.C. B'tselem calling the attack a violation of international law.

The human rights organization has long been critical of the Israeli authority for its tendency to respond to Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians by committing more violations of international law and human rights. On their web site B’tselem points out that Israel has employed an undeclared policy of leniency and compromise toward the perpetrators. They continue to document incidents of settler violence against Palestinians including killings and illegal theft of Palestinian homes. The imbalance in protection of basic human rights will no doubt be a major stumbling block in peace negotiations.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. “New at JeremyRHammond.com, the piece, ‘Turning Back From the Point of No Return: Implications of the Threat to Bomb Iran.’ He wrote it to counter the public narrative arguing that an air strike on Iran might be necessary in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust.”