Climate Change, Gaza, genocide, Targeting Muslims
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Israel’s War As A Catalyst For World War
One issue flowing from the Israeli-Palestinian war, at first pretty much ignored, is the danger of the war widening. And as Israel’s war in Gaza drags on, with no end yet in sight, the threat of a much wider war grows stronger. Already the war has resulted in military action in Syria and Iraq, by forces loyal to Iran; U.S. military facilities have been targeted in Iraq by Iranian backed forces; the United States and Great Britain are now regularly bombing Houthi military installations in response to the Houthis militarily disrupting the free flow of shipping in the Gulf region, on behalf of their support for Palestine; and, there are now daily clashes between Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel, across their shared border.
So far, the adversaries have been careful to not go beyond an unspoken, but generally recognized “tipping point,” so as not to bring about open nation-on-nation warfare throughout the region. But a “slippery slope” has now been created that many fear could bring about what would amount to a “world war”, even if confined only to that part of the world. And if that happens, who knows how many other nations in the Middle East would end up drawn into such a wider war.
Guest – Richard Becker is the Western Regional Coordinator of the “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism” coalition, or ANSWER. He is the author of the highly praised book, Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. Empire, published in 2013, with an up-dated edition of the book about to be released, as well. He is also the author of the book entitled, The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks. Richard Becker is also a national leader in the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
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Climate Change And Legal Analysis
While it has been all too slowly, the reality of climate change and what it means for life on our planet, for human lives and the lives of the multitude of other life forms we share this planet with, has become clearer to all who’ve not buried their heads in the sand and closed their eyes and minds to this deadly reality.
For a few decades now we humans have been paying more and more attention to the issue, and have actually instituted some measures aimed at holding climate change in check, but so far with pitifully little effect. In fact, despite these more recent efforts, those greenhouse gases just keep reaching for the sky in greater and greater amounts every year. Is it hopeless? That is, are we humans hopelessly unwilling and unable to do what the science on the matter makes clear must be done if we are not to find ourselves, rather soon, on our way to extinction? Are there, in fact, things we could and should be doing that would actually work?
Guest – Professor Eleanor Stein is a climate change, environmental justice and human rights activist and advocate. She teaches climate change and human rights at the State University of New York, at Albany, and has just recorded a Continuing Legal Education session on this subject for the CUNY Law School. In addition, she facilitates international forums on climate change and energy. And for years, Professor Stein was an Administrative Law Judge at the NY state agency that regulates the energy industry. She guided state policy on recovery from Superstorm Sandy ten years ago. In this regard, her work centered on mediating processes to bring solar and wind energy to the state at scale, at speed, and with justice.
Hosted by attorneys Jim Lafferty and Maria Hall
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, Violations of U.S. and International Law
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South Africa Brings Israel To World Court
On January 11 and 12, South Africa and Israel appeared in a historic case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, in The Hague. South Africa’s legal team made a strong and persuasive argument that Israel is engaging in genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. South Africa asked the court to impose nine emergency “provisional measures” aimed at putting an end to the slaughter.
South Africa’s application to the ICJ places Israel’s genocidal acts and omissions in the broader context of Israel’s 75-year apartheid policy, 56-year occupation, and 16-year blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. This siege was described by the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza as “a silent killer of people.”
South Africa told the court that it “unequivocally condemned the targeting of civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and the taking of hostages on 7 October.” But, it continued, “no armed attack on a State’s territory no matter how serious — even an attack involving atrocity crimes — can provide any justification for, or defence to” genocide. Israel “has crossed this line.”
Israel responded by placing responsibility on Hamas for the situation in Gaza. It accused South Africa of an “attempt to weaponize the term genocide.” Israel argued that international humanitarian law is the relevant framework — that Hamas committed war crimes. In Israel’s view, this is not a genocide case; if anyone was the victim of genocide, Israel claims IT was on October 7 when Palestinian resistance forces killed what Israel claims were 1,200 people. However, Hamas is not part of this case, because it is not a state party to the Genocide Convention.
Guest – co-host Marjorie Cohn is Dean of the People’s Academy of International Law and a member of the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Marjorie is also professor of law emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. She writes prolifically about Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and Israel’s violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people.
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Honoring the Legacy Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
We hear part of an hour long program honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King. Our listeners know all too well that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was shot on April 4, 1968. Not so well known is the radical Dr. King, who said in the last months of his life that:
“Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world, declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo.”
Joining us are special guests Ruby Sales, a colleague of Dr. King’s and co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; and Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.). We’re also joined by author and activist Matt Meyer, a board member of the AJMI.
Dr. King began close ties with A.J. Muste and with the F.O.R. during the Montgomery bus boycott, when FOR staff members Bayard Rustin and Glenn Smiley came to Alabama to support local efforts nonviolently challenging racial segregation. Dr. King developed a special relationship with former FOR chairman A.J. Muste, whose absolute pacifism King had, as a theological seminary student, questioned.
Before heading F.O.R., Muste was a prominent labor leader, helping to found the militant Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). And Dr. King, of course, was killed exactly one year after taking a staunch anti-Vietnam war position and in the midst of supporting a significant strike of sanitation workers, linking—as he had been—issues of race, class, and violence as King deepened his critique of the roots of oppressive U.S. society.
Guest – Ruby Sales is the founder and director of the “SpiritHouse Project”, a national organization that uses the arts, research, education, action and spirituality to bring diverse peoples together to work for racial, economic and social justice as well as for spiritual maturity. A life-long organizer, scholar and public theologian in the areas of civil, gender and other human rights, she was a member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and served as national convener of the Make Every Church A Peace Church movement.
Guest – Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson is the Executive Pastor of The Concord Baptist Church of Christ, Brooklyn, NY. She has combined pastoral ministry with the social justice community. The former Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund she is now the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Guest – Matt Meyer is Secretary-General of the International Peace Research Association, Chair of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Financial Advisory Committee, Africa Support Network Coordinator of the War Resisters International, and Senior Research Scholar at U-Mass Amherst. As current National co-chair of FOR and former Chair of the War Resisters League, he is second only to AJ Muste in holding the top post of those two historic US peace organizations. He is author of the recently published White Lives Matter Most And Other “Little” White Lies.
Hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian and Marjorie Cohn (also as guest)
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Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Human Rights Lawyer Says UN Failed To Protect Palestinians
The Israeli air and ground war against 2.3 million Palestinians imprisoned in the Gaza Strip is in its is 98th day. Ralph Nader stated on Democracy Now that the reported 23,000 deaths of Palestinians is vastly understated. He estimated a true count to be around 100,000. Moreover, he projected, that because of disease and starvation 500,000 people in Gaza will likely die this year.
International human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber resigned from the United Nations on October 28, 2023.
He had worked for the UN for more than three decades, and was the director of its human rights agency in New York. In his resignation letter he wrote that the UN had failed in its duty to protect Palestinians. Mokhiber accused the US, the UK, and much of Europe, of being “wholly complicit in the horrific assault” in Gaza.
Last week South Africa filed a lawsuit against the government of Israel in the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide. The ICJ is the court of the United Nations. John Kirby, a spokesperson for the United States, called the lawsuit “counterproductive, without any basis in fact, whatsoever“.
Guest – Attorney Craig Mokhiber, graduated from the University of Buffalo Law School and has lived in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Craig Mokhiber is a Director in the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). A lawyer and specialist in international human rights law, policy and methodology, he has served the UN since 1992. As chief of the Human Rights and Development Team in the 1990s, he led the development of OHCHR’s original work on human rights-based approaches to development and human rights-sensitive definitions of poverty.
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CIA Operations Subject To Discovery In Assange Attorneys’ Spying Case
On December 19th, a federal court in New York rendered a decision of profound importance, having to do with claims of illegal actions by the CIA, and others, brought by attorneys representing the world-renowned journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. Assange is currently imprisoned in London awaiting a final ruling in the U.S. government’s efforts to extradite him back to the United States and stand trial for violations of the Espionage Act of 1917, for having published documents exposing U.S. war crimes in connection with America’s wars in the Middle East. In their lawsuit against the CIA, former CIA head Mike Pompeo, and others, Assange’s attorneys alleged that the CIA violated the attorneys’ constitutional rights by subjecting them to illegal surveillance during their visits with Assange while he was staying in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had been granted asylum.
While the other claims of the attorneys were dismissed by the court, the CIA was not dismissed from the lawsuit. And so, the plaintiffs have won a rare opportunity for the clandestine operations of the CIA, which prides itself on secrecy, to now be subjected to public scrutiny and accountability through discovery actions in connection with the plaintiff’s claims.
The importance, the significance of this victory against the CIA cannot be overstated. And to help us understand how this victory came to pass, what the alleged abuses of the CIA were that led the judge to deny the attempt of the CIA to be dismissed from the lawsuit.
Guest – Vincent de Stefano, the chief organizer for the National Defense Committee for Julian Assange. Mr. De Stefano is a life-long social justice activist and a founding member of the Southern California Assange Defense Committee, as well as an Executive Board member of the national Assange defense committee. He is the former President of the Pasadena/Foothills Chapter of the ACLU and a board member of the Southern California ACLU Affiliate. Vince De Stefano has worked with Amnesty International for over 4 decades, and in 2019 was recognized by Amnesty as their Urgent Letter Writer of the Year.
Hosted by Attorneys Michael Smith, Maria Hall and Jim Lafferty
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister, Whistleblowers
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Israel Is Terrified The World Court Will Decide Its Committing Genocide
Since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7, Israel has launched a full-scale genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. As of this broadcast, Israeli forces have killed at least 22,100 Gazans, about 9,100 of whom are children. At least 57,000 persons have been wounded and at least 7,000 are reported missing. Untold numbers of people are trapped beneath the rubble. Israel has expelled and forcibly displaced more than 85% of Gaza’s population from their homes, and has cut off their access to food, water, fuel and electricity.
Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating what it refers to as the “Situation in the State of Palestine” for nearly three years, calls for prosecution of Israeli officials have been ignored. This blind eye comes as the chief prosecutor of the ICC demonstrates blatant bias in favor of Israel.
The ICC’s Rome Statute provides for the prosecution of individuals who commit, or aid and abet the commission of genocide. By contrast, the International Court of Justice (ICJ or “World Court”) — the judicial arm of the UN system — resolves disputes between countries.All the 153 countries that have ratified the 1948 Genocide Convention have a duty to prevent and punish genocide and they can submit the issue of Israel’s genocide to the ICJ.
On December 29, South Africa launched a well-documented case at the ICJ, alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide. South Africa is asking the court to order provisional measures to “protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention.” It also asks the court “to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention not to engage in genocide, and to prevent and to punish genocide.”
A hearing in the ICJ on South Africa’s application is scheduled for January 11 and 12. Other parties to the Genocide Convention are being approached to join South Africa’s petition.
Marjorie’s recent article : Israel Is Terrified The World Court Will Decide Its Committing Genocide
Guest – Marjorie Cohn – Law and Disorder co-host Marjorie Cohn, who is Dean of the People’s Academy of International Law and a member of the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. She is Professor of Law Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild and she has written extensively about the Israeli genocide in Gaza for Truthout.
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Remembering Australian Journalist John Pilger
Today we re-broadcast a recent interview we did with the great Australian journalist John Pilger about his film titled The Coming War On China. With the exception of a short break at the conclusion in 1975 of the Vietnamese war, the United States has been at war continually. The momentum of what President Eisenhower warned us against and described as being led by, “the military industrial complex” has been going on with successive wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now the American proxy war in Ukraine. The military industrial complex has been augmented by support from the CIA, Congress, and the corporate media.
As Pilger demonstrates, the United States, is building up for a war against China. This build up is both military and ideological and shaped by hostile propaganda. In this respect, an alarming full page New York Times article, 11 weeks in the making, and written by seven reporters, appeared on August 5, 2023. The article targeted the American peace organization CODEPINK as well as one of its financial backers. It is a hit piece that has alarmed many of us in the movement. John Pilger gives us the background to it.
Guest – John Pilger covered that war as a young reporter and understood that it was based on the lie that Lyndon Johnson told falsely stating that the North Vietnamese had attacked an American ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. Another 1 million people died in the Iraq war That war was based on the now well known lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that he was going to use against us and that he was responsible for 911. A similar campaign of fear mongering is going on now about China. The major news media parrot the government’s fact free line that China is our enemy. In his article “The Coming War With China” John Pilger wrote “a US war against China beckons and we have a responsibility to speak out. We know what is coming. Silence must be broken.”
Hosted by attorneys Michael Smith, Maria Hall, Heidi Boghosian and Marjorie Cohn
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