Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Immigration, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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The Zionist’s Long Term Plan
The humanitarian catastrophe Israel has engineered, in Gaza has no precedent in the modern era, “ Patrick Lawrence recently wrote, in that “Israel hates the United Nations and all it stands for, international law above all, without limit.”
Last week using American airplanes and bombs, Israel illegally attacked Lebanon and then Syria. It is aiming to get the United States involved in a war against Iran.
Israel’s action in overwhelming, displacing, and murdering the native Palestinians was baked into the Zionists plan and carried out over the last hundred years. David Ben Gurion, called the father of modern Israel, said that “the Jewish people have a map… which our youth and adults should try to fulfill, from the Nile to the Euphrates… one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war”. The events of October 7 of last year were merely the pretext.
Ariel Sharon, Israeli general, Prime Minister, and statesman, was responsible for murdering Arabs in neighboring Lebanon. 17,000 civilians were killed in 1982 during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. About 2000 were killed in the Sabra Sheila massacre by Phalangist allies of Israel and Sharon.
Sharon said, “I don’t mind if after the job is done, you put me in front of a Nuremberg trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you like, as a war criminal. What you don’t understand is the dirty work of Zionism is not yet finished, far from it.”
We will now see more of the “the dirty work”, carried out with Trump promising to “finish the job.”
Guest – Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi is a Palestinian American historian of the Middle East, the Edward Said professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and Director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. He was educated at Yale and Oxford universities and is the author of many books on the Middle East. He is also the author of Under Siege: PLO Decision Making During the 1982 War, Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East and recently The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017.
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The Effects Of Donald Trump’s Reelection
The reelection of Donald Trump will have disastrous effects inside the United States and around the world. Today we examine two related crises, one at home and the other in the Middle East.
Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian and international agencies has killed at least 43,020 people—most of them women and children. At least 101,110 others have been wounded and over 10,000 Gazans are missing and believed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed homes and other structures. Millions more Palestinians have been forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened by Israel’s invasion and “complete siege” of Gaza.In October, senior members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right Cabinet and national lawmakers spoke at a conference advocating the ethnic cleansing and recolonization of Gaza.
On October 28, the government of South Africa filed 750 pages of what it called “overwhelming” proof that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Under the court’s rules, the contents of the memorial cannot be made public at this time, but in a statement the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, called the material a “comprehensive presentation of the overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza.”
In response to the genocide in Gaza, campus protests which roiled over 400 colleges and universities last year are heating up again but this time protesters face an incoming President who has promised to use the National Guard and even the US military to brutally suppress dissent, whether its in opposition to the renewed alliance between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu or in response to Trump’s promise to launch mass deportations.
Trump and his allies have reportedly drafted plans for him to deploy the military against civil demonstrators on his first day in office, according to a Washington Post report from November 2023. Trump has also indicated that he will use the military to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
When Fox News asked Trump whether he thought “outside agitators” might have an effect on Election Day, Trump responded by saying, “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within.” He added, “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.” We’re very fortunate to have a guest who is well-equipped to address both of these crises.
Guest – Marjorie Cohn is professor of law emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is also Dean of the People’s Academy of International Law and a member of the Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. She writes frequent articles about the Supreme Court for Truthout.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, genocide, Human Rights, War Resister
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ACLU Weighs In On Protecting Civil Liberties
Today, with Donald Trump headed back to the White House, the nation is preparing for a devastating onslaught of civil rights and civil liberties abuses. Organizing, mobilizing, and resistance is going on all over the country. Within hours after the election, the ACLU made the following announcement.
“Starting on day one, we’re ready to fight for our civil liberties and civil rights in the courts, in Congress, and in our communities. We did it during his first term – filing 434 legal actions against Trump while he was in office – and we’ll do it again. We’ve done the work and, today, our track record shows that we know how to fight his attempts to restrict our civil liberties and civil rights.”
Guest – Ben Wizner is the director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. For more than two decades at the ACLU, Ben has litigated cases involving the right to protest, freedom of expression online, government surveillance practices, airport security policies, targeted killing, and torture. Since July of 2013, he has been the principal legal advisor to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Ben is a graduate of Harvard College and New York University School of Law and was a law clerk to the Hon. Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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Jewish Currents
The Jewish left is in the midst of an identity crisis, grappling with its long and complex relationship with the State of Israel in the light of the genocide in Gaza. To help us understand this fraught situation, we have invited Daniel May, the publisher of Jewish Currents magazine. He holds a PhD in modern Jewish thought and has over two decades of experience in community and labor organizing.
Jewish Currents was founded in 1946, but since its relaunch in 2018 with a new staff and design, it has sought to establish itself as an essential voice in the contemporary conversation. Today, the magazine covers antisemitism and its weaponization, the inner workings of Jewish communal organizations, the politics of Israel/Palestine on the ground and internationally, race and racialization, strategies and horizons of American left movements, the global rise of the far right, diasporic cultural expression, labor, climate, incarceration, immigration, and feminism.
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Rights, genocide, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Special Report: Global Threats To Freedom Of Expression Arising From Gaza Conflict
On top of the devastating humanitarian crisis and the issues of genocide and violations of human rights in Gaza and the West Bank, there has been an unprecedented attack on freedom of the press and freedom of expression globally prompted by that war.
In August, Irene Khan the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression issued an alarming report examining the impact of the conflict in Gaza on freedom of expression throughout the world. The report highlighted “attacks on journalists and media restrictions, endangering access to information about the conflict globally; suppression of protests and dissent and undermining of academic and artistic freedoms in polarized political environment; and restrictions on legitimate political expression in the name of fighting terrorism and antisemitism.”
The Special Rapporteur assessed the compliance of States, social media companies and other private actors with international human rights standards, online and offline, and she found “an extensive pattern of unlawful, discriminatory and disproportionate restrictions on advocacy for the rights of Palestinian people.”
The report emphasized “the importance of freedom of opinion and expression – enjoyed on an equal basis by all sides – as an invaluable tool for fighting hate and encouraging mutual respect and dialogue.” Based on her detailed findings, the Special Rapporteur called on States, social media companies and other private actors to reject double standards on human rights and made concrete recommendations for them to uphold the right to freedom of opinion and expression equally for all.
Guest – Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Appointed on August 1, 2020, Ms Khan is the first woman to hold this position since the establishment of the mandate in 1993. UN Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts with a mandate to report and advise on human rights from a thematic perspective. As part of her role, Ms Khan conducts country visits, acts on individual cases and sends official communications to governments, and presents thematic reports to the UN General Assembly.
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A History Of Anti-Black Racism
National chauvinism and racism are essential features of fascism. The practice of white racism in the United States during the Jim Crow era was something that Hitler’s party in Germany studied and emulated. This kind of anti-black racism went on in the United States from shortly after the Civil War up until the 1960s. It has never really gone away as the mass mobilizations of the Black Lives Matter movement has recently demonstrated. This Black resistance, this fight back, will be a central aspect of anti-fascist activity in the future.
Guest – Bill Mullen is professor emeritus of American studies at Purdue University and the co-founder of The Campus Anti-fascist Network. He’s also co-author of The Black Antifascist Tradition and his new book published last month We Charge Genocide: American Ashes and the Rule of Law.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Prison Industry, Supreme Court, worker's rights
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USPS: Concerns With Louis Dejoy And Election Integrity
Free elections can too easily turn into hollow formalities when coercion, manipulation, or biased governance replace voter choice and participation. The United States Postal Service has historically been one of the most trusted government institutions in the United States, with a strong reputation for reliability and nonpartisanship. Until now.
Louis DeJoy, a prominent Trump donor and former logistics executive, was appointed as Postmaster General in May 2020, just months before the 2020 presidential election. His tenure has been marked by a series of controversial reforms, including slowing mail delivery, removing mail sorting machines, reducing post office operating hours, and limiting overtime for postal workers. These changes have triggered widespread alarm, given the heightened dependence on mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite public outcry and congressional investigations, DeJoy continues to oversee an agency crucial to the functioning of our democracy. With the 2024 election on the horizon and the ongoing reliance on mail-in ballots—particularly in swing states—the stakes are high. Voters in rural areas, the elderly, and people with disabilities, often rely on it to cast their ballots. Any disruptions could disproportionately impact these communities and undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
We examine the potential impacts of delayed ballots, changes in USPS service standards, and the wider implications for voter turnout and trust in the system.
Guest – Chuck Zlatkin, legislative director of the New York Metro Area Postal Union.
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Sending a big thank you to station KKFI for their generous donation bringing us closer to our fundraiser goal. Please consider helping us reach our fundraiser goal. We’re getting close.
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Abolition Labor: The Fight To End Prison Slavery
Operating in the secrecy of the nation’s more than 1,800 prisons, a kind of shadow slave culture is being fostered. Few Americans are aware of the exploitative and pervasive practice of forced prison labor. The 13th amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery, but it made one exception: prison labor.
Prisoners are forced to work with minimal or non-existent wages, and often with no labor protections. Understanding the scope and implications of forced prison labor is crucial for anyone concerned with social justice and equity. It calls for a re-examination of our treatment of incarcerated persons and for alternatives that promote fairness for everyone, regardless of their legal status. By shining a light on this issue, we can advocate for reforms that prioritize rehabilitation over punishment and strive towards a more just and humane criminal justice system. A new book, Abolition Labor: The Fight To End Prison Slavery, provides an eye-opening overview of the extent of this problem.
Guest – Andrew Ross is a renowned social activist, author, and Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, where he also directs the Prison Research Lab. Andrew has contributed to prominent publications like The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Nation. He has authored or edited over twenty-five books, with the recent work, Abolition Labor, co-authored with Aiyuba Thomas and Tommaso Bardelli.
Guest – Aiyuba Thomas recently earned his M.A. from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and is an affiliate of the NYU Prison Research Lab. He currently serves as project manager for the Movements Against Mass Incarceration’s archival oral history project at Columbia University. There, he documents the experiences and challenges faced by those affected by the criminal justice system. His firsthand perspective and his extensive knowledge on the subject makes him a powerful voice in the conversation of abolishing forced prison labor.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Climate Change, Human Rights, NSA Spying, Supreme Court, Surveillance
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The Center for Climate Integrity
Today, we’re delving into a legacy of deception and destruction. For more than 50 years, Big Oil companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP have known that burning fossil fuels would raise global temperatures. Yet, instead of taking responsibility or warning the public, they have orchestrated campaigns of denial, disinformation, and delay.
As a result, we are living with unprecedented climate disasters. Following the hottest year on record in 2023, extreme weather events have intensified, from record-breaking wildfires scorching California and Canada, to catastrophic hurricanes pounding the Gulf Coast. During this past June, nearly 5 billion people globally faced intense heat over nine days, with more than 60% of the world’s population encountering temperatures made at least three times more likely by climate change. These events not only devastate ecosystems and communities, but they also cost taxpayers billions of dollars in damage and recovery.
Guest – Corey Riday-White, Managing Attorney at the Center for Climate Integrity, an organization that is fighting to hold Big Oil accountable for its deceit. The Center is supporting litigation efforts in several states, aiming to force fossil fuel companies to pay for the damage they’ve caused. Let’s hear more about their approach, and how the legal system might be used to confront this ongoing climate crisis.
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Surveillance Dragnet: Geofence Warrants
Recently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a landmark decision in U.S. v. Jamarr Smith, holding that geofence warrants are “categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.” What is a Geofence Warrant? They compel companies such as Google to hand over data on every device in a particular geographical area over a set period of time. Not surprisingly they are a controversial tool in law enforcement’s investigative arsenal.
Privacy experts argue they amount to a dragnet search that violates the privacy of countless innocent individuals. Proponents, on the other hand, see them as necessary for solving crimes in our digital world. The Fifth Circuit ruling is a major development in the ongoing debate over privacy and mass surveillance.
Guest – Alan Butler, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center or EPIC, in Washington, DC. EPIC has been at the forefront of legal battles to improve data protection standards to protect individual rights in the rapidly advancing surveillance state. Alan Butler is Chair of the Privacy and Information Protection Committee of the American Bar Association Section on civil Rights and Social Justice. He has authored briefs on behalf of EPIC in significant privacy cases, including an amicus brief in Riley v. California that was cited in the Supreme Court’s unanimous landmark ruling that the warrantless search and content seizure of cell phones during an arrest is unconstitutional.
Music out: The Down Hill Strugglers – Abandoned Orchards That Grow
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Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, worker's rights
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Understanding Capitalism
The great German playwright, and political figure, Berthold Brecht, observed that to understand fascism you have to understand capitalism, from whence it springs. Today, it is also helpful for us to understand that the rise of fascism in Germany 100 years ago, has parallels we can see now with the rise of fascism in the United States.
Prior to World War I, which began in 1914, the German working class and middle class were relatively prosperous. The German unions were strong and influential. Prior to World War I, Germany also had the largest and strongest socialist party in the world, and it was the second largest political party in the German Parliament. The German economy was booming. And German culture was the jewel of Europe.
This all came to a crashing end in 1917, when Germany was defeated in what was an inter-imperial war against the United States, France, Great Britain and Russia. The consequences of that defeat brought us fascism and World War II, 20 years later. In the 1920’s, inflation wiped out the savings of the German people. When the depression hit in 1929, the German working class was desperate. The ground was fertile for the rise of Adolf Hitler, a ruthless, cunning and violent demagogue.
Here in the United States, our economy boomed for 100 years, from the end of the Civil War until the 1970s. But since then, American workers have not made any progress. Their wages, in real terms, have not risen in 50 years! “Neo- liberalism”, which is just another word for aggressive capitalism, has wiped out 30 million industrial jobs in the US, starting in the 1980s. Women were driven back into the workforce. People had to work two jobs just to keep up.
In Germany, it was the Jews who were blamed. Here in the US, it is immigrants and people of color who are scapegoated. The demagogue Trump, like Hitler before him, is a captivating speaker and a very effective cult leader, who is now poised to take the power of the government and turn it against “we the people.”
Guest – Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus from the University of Massachusetts, and the author of the forthcoming book, “Understanding Capitalism”. According to New York Times, Richard Wolff is, probably America’s most prominent Marxist economist. He is the founder of Democracy at Work and host of their national syndicated show Economic Update. Professor Wolff has authorized numerous books on capitalism and socialism, including most recently “The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us From Pandemics or Itself“, “Understanding Socialism“; and “Understanding Marxism”, which can be found at democracyatwork.info.
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Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
Instead of the socialist ideal of universal human emancipation, that many European Jews supported, Zionist Israel is the outcome of a very different political ideology…an ideology that a relatively small number of middle and upper class European Jews advanced unsuccessfully until after World War II.
The founders of Zionism promoted it as a Jewish solution to the “Jewish problem.” Communists and socialists rejected this self-segregating reliance on Western colonial powers. And the current increasingly pariah status of Israel and its imperial backer, the United States, has proven the fallacy of the Zionist solution.
Israel is the product of a colonial settler ideology that has its roots in the racist and imperialist practices of the European powers of the 19th century. Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, an Austrian /Hungarian journalist, was a great admirer of Cecil Rhodes, the British imperial figure who founded the mineral settler colony of Rhodesia in what became apartheid South Africa.
From its inception, the goal of the Zionists was to overwhelm and displace the indigenous native Arabs in Palestine. As a result, despite its own self-promotion, Israel is not the moral legatee of the victims of the holocaust, much less of the prophets of the Hebrew people who propounded the 10 Commandments.
The horrific slaughter since last October 7th of the Palestinians in Gaza, has been live streamed for people all over the world to see.
Guest – Emmaia Gelman is a professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and the founder of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism. Her book on the powerful Zionist organization the Anti-Defamation League is about to be published by the University of California press.
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