Listening from six time zones away

I took a few weeks off and Eli and Raphaelle did the show. I was six times zones away, but really enjoyed the programs they did. I hope you did too. Let them know what you thought:

Eli@classwars.org 

Raphaelle@classwars.org

That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma

May 9

GUEST: Zachariah Barghouti, organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement USA, talks about his experiences as an immigrant, queer Palestinian man and about his speaking tours at universities teaching about queer led BDS campaigns targeting the Israeli government's pinkwashing efforts.

Attempt to shut down Barghouti's panel at Vassar College

What a thrill to be there at Vassar for Barghouti's panel. Like usual, there were threats, pressure from Zionist alums, and the standard non committal response from the college. But the students prevailed and the turnout was staggering. Vassar students are notoriously late, but when I got to the hall a little before the beginning of the program, there was only a few seats left right down in front. Hundreds of students had come out to hear the discussion:

Panel Discussion on the One Year Anniversary of the Great March of Return and the Changing Face of Palestinian Solidarity in the US. Taylor Hall, Room 203, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie. Palestinian American activists and academics Sumaya Awad and Zachariah Barghouti will be joined by Vassar Professor Joshua Schreier. Presented by Students for Justice in Palestine to commemorate Israel Apartheid Week.

At the end, instead of attacking questions, there was a emotional standing ovation for the two Palestinian activist and the Vassar professor who had been brave enough to chair the event.

Barghouti's interview on Activist Radio gave us the opportunity to ask questions about the LGBTQ movement and how it relates to Black Lives Matter in the US and to the fight for a free Palestine. Each oppressed group can clearly understand the racism and violence directed at others of the wrong color, sexual orientation or religion. The basic reason for struggle is to achieve fundamental human rights, and it doesn't matter who the oppressed are. Our choice is to be for that oppression or to resist it in any way we can.

Wherever little children are hungry and cry,
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights,
That's where I'm a-gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a-gonna be.     - Tom Joad 

What you and I as citizens do

May 2

GUEST: Seth Donnelly, teacher, labor activist, and human rights delegation member, talks about his work in exposing U.S. racism and colonialism in Haiti.
Hold the US/UN Accountable

The only way the U.S. gets away with colonialism in Latin America is by keeping its own citizens ignorant. Learning the history of Haiti brings awareness not only of this island colony, but of the racism and exploitation the empire brings to the Third World. The nearer an undeveloped country is to the U.S., the more suffering and destruction it experiences.

We all know about Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, embargoed and threatened by coups and military invasions. What we don't know about is the subjugation and suffering that goes on in countries like Haiti, Honduras, and Columbia, all puppet nations under the thumb of U.S. imperialism.

It takes courage to go to Haiti and report back on the corruption and nasty ways of empire. But once we see what our own government is up to, we can understand why countries like Cuba and Venezuela resist. U.S. occupation kills millions. The death squads trained and armed by the U.S. Kill tens of thousands more. Like most occupiers, our country is ruthless and murderous when it comes to suppressing the indigenous populations for the profits U.S. business interests.

The wealth of the empire is built on exploitation, like all world empires before it. That is just the fact. What you and I as citizens do about it is up to us.