Truth and the empire

 

July 27

 

An Israeli Defense Force pilot and a US World War II veteran tell their stories about violence and redemption. David Swanson talks about war and the media.  This is an evergreen program while Activist Radio takes a week vacation.

Ex-Israeli pilot: 'Our army is a terrorist organization'
Study War No More by Jay Wenk
Let's Try Democracy by David Swanson

I really enjoyed putting this program together. There seems to be an important vain of truth that joins these interviews together. And as a US veteran who "served" in the most powerful empire that the world has ever seen, I too am trying to make sense of the many decades of war that I have lived through.

This is my first "evergreen" program. I will be enjoying myself at the beach when you listen to me, instead of working in the studio like I ought to be doing. I picked Jay's book cover as the graphic above, just because I miss him and like hearing him again.

One correction needs to be pointed out. As much as I value David Swanson, he did not write: War Made Invisible, How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine.  That insightful and troubling book is written by Norman Solomon, who will be our guest on Activist Radio the second week of August. I highly recommend you read the book before the interview, for its well documented truths about our empire.

War Made Invisible by Norman Solomon

The embodiment of the US Empire

 

July 20

 

GUEST: Cheryl Qamar, social worker, committed feminist, and political activist, talks about her recent trip to the West Bank and the Aida Refugee Camp with the USA Palestine Mental Health Network. She is on the Board for Eyewitness Palestine and the Steering Committee for USA Palestine Mental Health Network.

The USA-Palestine Mental Health Network

 

Trauma leaves a long trail of suffering. For children living in a brutal apartheid state, the damage keeps accumulating and affects every aspect of their lives. They are stoned by the "settlers" while walking to school. They are chocked by teargas during night raids, and sometimes they are simply kidnapped from their beds to face days or weeks of interrogation. Like all Palestinians, they have no rights in the rigid theocracy of the Jewish state. 

Does focusing on the children help the people of the United States realize the suffering of 5 million Palestinians under illegal occupation? It certainly does that for visitors to the Aida Refugee Camp. There, the occupation isn't very complicated. If you are Palestinian, your house might be crushed one day to make way for Jewish settlements. Your children might to dragged off in the middle of the night. Or worse, simply shot by the Israeli Defense Force. 

 

The next time you read The New York Times, notice how much attention is being paid to the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Most likely, the stories will start with a picture of civilians suffering and houses destroyed. But in the decades long invasions and occupations of the Palestinian people, there is no outrage in the country that is primarily responsible for their suffering. We shovel billions into Israel each year, so that the apartheid state won't run out of bullets and bomb. We protect this criminal state in our media and at the UN. In fact, Israel is a colony of the US, the embodiment of the US Empire. 

No country based on racism and apartheid deserves to survive for very long

Free speech is enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as Article I, Section 8 of the New York State Constitution. US Citizens have exercised this right from the Boston Tea Party to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and from the Anti-Nazi Boycott of German goods in 1933 to the Boycott of Apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. 

Since 2016 however, twenty eight states have passed anti-boycott laws, affecting everyone from substitute teachers to construction workers. In these states there are anti-boycott declarations that must be signed by engineers, writers, journalists, students and even storm victims applying for disaster relief. It's the new McCarthy Era, but this time it is the Israel Lobby taking away our free speech rights.

How is it that Israel has such control over our various state and federal legislators? The truth is that the Israel lobby has a great deal of money, and our representative form of government is awash in the corruption of campaign donations. There are virtually no limits to what can be spent influencing our politicians. Take former House Representative Antonio Delgado (D-NY). He came in on a platform of equality and social justice, and he was African American to boot. But once in office, he refused to meet with a number of local groups supporting human rights for Palestinians. A little research revealed why. In his second year in office, he was the recipient of over $32,000 from the Israel Lobby. 

Another supposed champion of human rights, Senator Warnock (D-GA), was an unabashed supporter of Palestine before he ran for office. But once on the inside, he started accepting a lot of cash from the Israel   Lobby. Now, he has changed his tune about his formally idealistic views, and refuses to talk about Israeli apartheid at all. OpenSecrets.org reveals the reason why: Senator Warnock picked up $489,000 from Israel Lobby donations in 2022 alone, the second highest amount in the US Senate.
So why do we see these attacks on our fundamental First Amendment right to boycott? The Israel Lobby is simply using the inherent weakness in our system to further damage what is left of our democracy. And the Israel Lobby isn't doing that for any religious reason, but to make racism and apartheid the official position of our Congress and our President. 

The dangers to our Constitution and Bill of Rights can be clearly seen. Just as Israel cannot be a functioning democracy when half its population is occupied and oppressed, the United States cannot claim to be a just and free society when its official position supports Israel's racial apartheid. The outlawing of our citizens' right to boycott is only the beginning of a rollback of our fundamental freedoms. If we can't get the Israel Lobby out of our politics, what good is our corrupted system?
A strong and vibrant democracy has little to do with the fine words written at the birth of our nation. It is the people's belief in these basic rights that makes a difference. When the belief is gone, we are well on our way to another form of government. That's why we must fight against the influence of the Israel Lobby, lest our democracy becomes as hollow at theirs. And no country based on racism and apartheid deserves to survive for very long.

Their obscene influence and everlasting hubris

July 13

 

GUEST: Thom Hartmann, progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host, and New York Times bestselling author, talks about his recently published book: The Hidden History of American Democracy.

News & info from the #1 progressive radio

 

Thom Hartmann's latest book is a lot of fun to read, since he goes out of his way to expose the patriotic narrative the media gives us about our founding fathers. As it turns out, the signers of our Constitution were very much against any church involvement in our democracy. "In God We Trust" came with the last Cold War. Moreover, the founders would have been appalled at how much state money now goes to religious groups. 

 

And the all powerful Supreme Court? Why that was never established to judge the laws that Congress passed. Such authority is nowhere in the Constitution or in the history of the 1800s. How hard would it be to restore the Supreme Court to its original purpose, that of resolving property and law enforcement disputes?

 

Thom's book is a call to recover our democracy by restoring the rights that the drafters of our Constitution have given us. We live in a kleptocracy because the last forty years have been dominated by the super rich, who have bent the rules to give themselves unlimited power. Surprisingly, we the people can use our founding document to roll back their obscene influence and everlasting hubris. Check out Thom's new book!

The Hidden History of American Democracy

 

Rise up again Julian Assange

July 6

 

GUEST: Dan Kovalik, Senior Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, and professor of International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, talks about his recent fact finding trip to Russia and Crimea.

Reflections on Russia & Crimea: The Hate Goes One Way

 

I was especially pleased to have Dan Kovalik on Activist Radio. There is so much warmongering in our mainstream media that people are literally dying because there is no alternative. 

Of course, NATO planned the invasion of Ukraine, gambling that Russia would have to respond to a coup that made Ukraine part of Europe. Now the US is simply spending all our tax dollars to continue a senseless war. Same as the last war, and the one before that. Weapons makers are gobbling up every dollar that that could have been used to restore the American Dream.

 

Meanwhile, the US public is being to taught to fear and hate Russia. There just isn't another narrative to be had. I am just so sick of the Pentagon planners and right wing think tank annalists on NPR who speak so seriously about freedom and democracy. When is the last time the empire cared about freedom and democracy? Could it be that easy to fool the American people?  Come back, Daniel Ellsberg; rise up again Julian Assange.

 

The world abhors a racist bully

June 29

 

GUEST: John McDonagh, citizen activist, successful playwrite, DJ on WBAI and long time yellow cab driver in NYC, talks about his engaging and popular play “Off The Meter” that opened at the Irish Repertory Theater.

New York Irish Arts review

 

John and I had a good time talking about New York City's culture and complexities since the 1960s. The humor has a distinct Irish flavor, and John is a consumate story teller. But soon the discussion turned to colonialism, both in Northern Ireland and in Occupied Palestine.

John explained how the Protestants were sent to Ireland to force the Irish Catholics out of their homeland, much like how Jews were sent to ethnically cleans the Holy Land. The real culprits are the empires that make fortunes by invading and occupying foreign lands. The racism one can see in Northern Ireland, Palestine and Apartheid South Africa all stems from the same source, the creation of settlements and the ethnic cleansing that always follows.

In fact, comparing Northern Ireland to Palestine reveals complexities that are important for Americans to know. There will be an end to all apartheid states some day. The world abhors a racist bully, and at some future time, freedom and justice will prevail.