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Talk Nation Radio, January 29, 2009

Francis A. Boyle calls on UN General Assembly for War Crimes Tribunal for Israel over Gaza attacks

Listen to this week’s broadcast here. Also here.

This is part one of a two part special on Gaza produced by Dori Smith, at WHUS, a Pacifica Affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT

TRT: 29:08

Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org for various formats including podcasting.

Stay tuned to Talk Nation Radio for part two of this interview plus our weekend special, an interview with Amnesty International’s Zahir Janmohamed, AI’s Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. He spent the day Friday January 30th, 2009, working on Capital Hill, explaining to members of Congress and the Obama administration why this Non Governmental Human Rights monitoring agency is calling for an impartial investigation of war crimes in Gaza. We focus on Israel’s crimes, though AI will also seek an investigation into the actions of all parties. Of special significance are reports that parents were shot in front of their children, that members of Congress should pay special attention to the use of White Phosphorus which indicates US culpability. We also discuss Israel’s use of Flechette weaponry as described on the group’s web page.

Coming Soon!
Amnesty International reports targeting of civilians in Gaza:

“There is evidence that, and we have this on our blog, which is blog.amnestyusa.org that Israeli soldiers went into homes, they often times forced people in their homes and then used their homes as base, that constitutes human shielding, which is also a war crime, there are instances in which they dragged people out of their home and shot them at point blank range, there are instances in which parents were shot in front of their children, there are also instances of racist graffiti, like saying things like one down 999 thousand to go or death to all Arabs. So this idea that Israel had a map and they were only firing at Hamas targets is absolutely ludicrous. What we see here is that this was an attempt to punish all people in Gaza, not just Hamas.”

PT 1 interview with Francis A. Boyle

Francis A. Boyle has called on the UN General Assembly to set up an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) under U.N. Charter Article 22. He discusses how this would be set up. Professor Boyle also discusses the matter of accountability for crimes committed by George Bush and others in his administration as well.

Boyle indicates that his first impression of President Barack Obama’s choice of US envoy to the MidEast George Mitchell is that he is better than the other choices floated by the transition team, but the question remains, how will Mitchell negotiate peace between Israel and Palestinians if he won’t meet with democratically elected Hamas?

The UN is calling for a massive aid effort to help wounded Palestinians (See Ban Ki Moon appeal) and many still without food or water.

We end with a clip of MidEast envoy George Mitchell who held another press conference to discuss his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas.

In this part one of a two part interview we also hear Professor Boyle’s assessment of President Obama’s interview on Saudi run Al Arabiya TV, Israel’s rationale for the Gaza attacks as Hamas rockets, which he said were not legitimate due to Israel’s use of disproportionate force, and criticism about Israel’s actions in Gaza.

International Law professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois School of Law has advised numerous international bodies including the Palestinians. He was their adviser during the 1990s and the Oslo peace talks.

His latest book is, ‘Tackling America’s Toughest Questions’ (see interview at Znet.org) and his many other texts include: ‘Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law;’ ‘Destroying World Order: U.S. Imperialism in the Middle East Before and After September 11th’, ‘Biowarfare and Terrorism’, and ‘Palestine, Palestinians & International Law’ by Francis Anthony Boyle and Haidar Abdul Shaffi.

Talk Nation Radio is produced at WHUS Radio FM 91.7 in Storrs, CT. Our music was written and performed by Fritz Heede

You can listen to the show when it airs live at 5 PM Wed. online at www.whus.org.

Don’t miss this Democracy Now interview with Kathy Kelly.. And this update from Iraq by journalist Dahr Jamail. Dahr Jamail also writes for Inter Press Service. We hope to speak with him when he returns from Iraq.

UPDATE: George Mitchell has called for Hamas border police to be replaced.

See this important story on Professor Francis A. Boyle’s challenge to the UN General Assembly. And this on the call for a tribunal.

Talk Nation Radio interviews Mark Bruzonsky on Obama, Gaza and AIPAC — Hope tempered by history, January 22, 2009

Listen to this week’s show here or here or download below.

This program and our future work is dedicated to my late father, David Truskoff. He worked and struggled for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, against the war in Vietnam, then against several Latin American wars that were kept secret, death squads and all, and then Iraq 1 and Clinton’s bombing of the country and then Iraq 2, Bush 2.. While he lay in the hospital after major cancer surgery he watched the TV coverage of Israel’s invasion of Gaza with terrible distress. Dad, we’ll keep on.

Produced by Dori Smith, WHUS FM 91.7 a Pacifica Affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT

TRT: 29:45
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=23689&nav=&

Mark Bruzonsky is a Jewish American scholar with a unique history of working behind the scenes on Israeli Palestinian peace initiatives. He joins us to talk about his longstanding hope for peace in Palestine, and his amazement at watching the crowds in Washington D.C. as they shared new hope for the future during the Obama inauguration.

Mark Bruzonsky holds dual advanced degrees in international affairs and law from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. What does Israel’s push into Gaza foreshadow? Where is US policy under Obama leading us in Afghanistan? Will the US and Israel continue to plan for war against Iran? Can peace activists and scholars, diplomats, and political leaders, work collectively to foster a peaceful end to MidEast violence between Israelis and Palestinians? Is war or peace coming under Barack Obama and what should average citizens do?

In the days leading up to the Obama inauguration we read an article in the Guardian by Suzanne Goldenberg based in Washington D.C. She wrote that the incoming administration was prepared to abandon George Bush’s doctrine of isolating Hamas. See this: http://www.truthout.org/010909J

She outlined the possibility that Obama would establish a channel to the Islamist organization, and sources close to the transition team said there would be contacts with Hamas which could be initiated through the US intelligence services. That, said Goldenberg would, represent a definitive break with the Bush presidency’s ostracizing of the group.” Obama Camp “Prepared to Talk to Hamas.”

The US press ignored the story but Goldenberg’s phrasing led us to ask questions. If Obama would meet with Hamas, why wouldn’t he reach out with some form of call to peace in Gaza just before his inauguration? There were thousands of people protesting Israel’s actions and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called for an investigation. (see BBC audio clips)

Our inquiries led us to research on Middle East peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, a long history of false starts, great break throughs followed by more crushed hopes… and that in turn led us to Mark A. Bruzonsky and his web site Middle East.org. He is also Washington Representative of the Goals for Americans Foundation and writes and speaks about U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, and U.S.-Israeli relations. Mark Bruzonsky was Associate Editor of WORLDVIEW MAGAZINE in New York and Interview Editor of THE MIDDLE EAST MAGAZINE in London. He was Washington Representative of The World Jewish Congress from 1977 to 1984 as well as Special Assistant to Philip M. Klutznick, President of both B’nai B’rith International and the World Jewish Congress, and a former Secretary of Commerce under Jimmy Carter.

When we discussed an interview he offered me a very recent oped piece, yet to be published, outlining his history of work on behalf of negotiations dating back to the late 1970s when he personally met alone with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to encourage him to visit Israel, which he ultimately did. — More recently Mark Bruzonsky met with Hamas leaders, some of those who would possibly get to talk with US officials soon.

We spoke as he watched the inaugural events with mixed sentiments, responding to the atmosphere of hope in Washington D.C., but admitting to some pessimism too. You can learn more about international law and politics expert Mark Bruzonsky at MiddleEast.org, and try these articles:

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51a/083.html
http://www.middleeast.org/mab.htm
http://www.alternet.org/story/12881/towards_a_better_world/

http://www.questia.com/library/book/security-in-the-middle-east-regional-change-and-great-power-strategies-by-mark-a-bruzonsky-samuel-f-wells-jr.jsp

One of his books: Security in the Middle East: Regional Change and Great Power Strategies
by Mark A. Bruzonsky, Samuel F. Wells Jr.. 366 pgs.

Read the complete book Security in the Middle East: Regional Change and Great Power Strategies by becoming a questia.com member. Choose a membership plan to an academic-level library with more than 67,000 full-text books, 1.5 million articles, an entire reference set with a dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus plus a collection of digital tools to organize your information.

http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/Palestina/palestina44.htm Jabotinsky and Zionism..

http://www.middleeast.org/mab

http://www.middleeast.org/uchicago
http://www.middleeast.org/puspeech

Special thanks to whoever set up the web page, inconsistent (Elizabeth, Mukta, Vyvian) referenced at web page featuring clips from Martin Luther King on War, with statement from former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark. They were great to watch during the inauguration and I will include them if I can in future radio work.

My father passed away on inauguration day after Bush had left the White House. He knew Bush was gone, and I’m comforted by the thought that he understood America and the world had a new beginning. How astonishing that our Dad was able to meet MLK and walk with him in Mississippi and interview him and Fanny Lou Hammer. Watching that video I realized how amazing that must have been for him.. Write to us at: talknationradio@gmail.com

Talk Nation Radio for January 15, 2009

Jamshid A. Marvasti M.D. on MidEast Violence, Causes and Cures

Dr. Marvasti is an Iranian-American citizen and he discusses the impact of the Israeli Palestinian War on societies in Israel, Palestine, and the USA. This is part one of a two hour discussion where we explore his recent book in context with breaking news of Gaza.

Listen to this week’s program here or download below.

Produced by Dori Smith, at WHUS FM 91.7, a Pacifica Affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT
Total Running Time: 29:01
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here

http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=23523&nav=type&session=1fc2b5af4a604ad0b2ad42fe3d57bc23&

And at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We’re joined by Dr. Jamshid A. Marvasti, a practicing psychiatrist from Connecticut and author of numerous articles and books on the subject of psychic trauma and psychotherapy. His most recent book is Psycho-Political Aspects of Suicide Warriors, Terrorism and Martyrdom, a Critical View from Both Sides in Regard to Cause and Cure.

1. Dr. Marvasti argues that it takes ‘two villages’ to raise a terrorist, and the complexities of personalities representing both sides must be explored in order to achieve the kind of understanding that can lead to lasting peace.

2. We hear a clip provided by Journalist and media critic Sam Husseini from his interview with Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. He argued that ‘we do not provoke terrorism’ and disagrees with Husseini’s point that US policy amounts to throwing gasoline on the fire in the MidEast.

3. Marvasti quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in his book: “You will never end terrorism by terrorizing others”. We talk about the many wise peace activists, scholars and religious leaders quoted in the book and study the heart of the matter when it comes to stopping violence. We have to look at all of the people involved as human beings, and reflect on our own prejudices and bias and fears.

4. We discuss case histories in the book such as the story of a young Palestinian man who tried a suicide action at age 19 but failed, was arrested, and then he said his brother wanted him to become a martyr because martyrdom is exalted in the Muslim religion and in Palestinian society which has seen 60 years of occupation and war. As his brother put the explosives belt on him he looked for tears in his eyes and saw none.

5. We discuss a chapter by Justine McCabe a psychologist who has worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In her chapter, “Sowing the seeds of war: Israeli and Palestinian Child Deaths in the Context of September 11″ she documents the dramas for each side in the long standing conflict and shares her perspective on the cyclical nature of the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

6. We discuss US and Israeli military tactics which dehumanized people in Iraq, Gaza, and other parts of the world, and look at why it is important for both sides as a tool of war and propaganda that each portrays the enemy as “other” and not like the self.

7. Dr. Jamshid A. Marvasti explains his use of the term “suicide aggression” or “suicide warrior” to describe a small minority of people in various Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian countries that President George W. Bush has called “suiciders”.

8. Dr. Marvasti explores the similarities between the victims of terrorism in the USA, Israel, and Palestine, emphasizing the devastating impact on children.

More soon…

Updates on Gaza: Key Hamas leader killed in Gaza ‘One of the top Hamas leaders in Gaza has been killed in an air strike, Hamas and Israeli officials have said. — Said Siyam, the Hamas interior minister, was killed in an air raid on his brother’s home near Gaza City.’ This report also covers recent Israeli shelling of UN compound in Gaza, three known wounded, use of White Phosphorous reported by NPR, National Public Radio, and compound on fire, unknown number of Palestinians had taken refuge there. UN chief Ban Ki Moon is in Israel trying to negotiate a cease fire.

More at UN News Service here and activism here and here.

Haaretz News, Israeli paper, interesting piece here.

We speak with Dr. Jamshid A. Marvasti about his book PSYCHO-POLITICAL ASPECTS OF SUICIDE WARRIORS, TERRORISM AND MARTYRDOM: A Critical View from “Both Sides” in Regard to Cause and Cure, By Jamshid A. Marvasti, published 2008 374 pp.

Listen to the broadcast here at 5 PM EST.

We also discuss news on Gaza where Israeli (IDF) defense forces continue their major attacks, pushing ahead into Gaza city within the past 24 hours.

We received this article (here) just now from Professor Francis A. Boyle, a prominent International Lawyer. The US Promotes Israeli Genocide
Monday, 12 January 2009, 10:11 am
Opinion: Prof. Francis A. Boyle

The United States Promotes Israeli Genocide Against the Palestinians
by Professor Francis A. Boyle (from “Tackling America’s Toughest Questions,” now at Amazon.com)

“As long ago as October 19, 2000, the then United Nations Human Rights Commission (now Council) condemned Israel for inflicting “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” upon the Palestinian people, most of whom are Muslims. The reader has a general idea of what a war crime is, so I am not going to elaborate upon that term here. But there are different degrees of heinousness for war crimes. In particular are the more serious war crimes denominated “grave breaches” of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Since the outbreak of the first Intifada in 1987, the world has seen those heinous war crimes inflicted every day by Israel against the Palestinian people living in occupied Palestine: e.g., willful killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army and by Israel’s illegal paramilitary settlers. These Israeli “grave breaches” of the Fourth Geneva Convention mandate universal prosecution for the perpetrators and their commanders, whether military or civilian, including and especially Israel’s political leaders. “

Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights on Afghanistan and Josh Ruebner, on the origin of Gaza’s 1.5 million population

Listen to this week’s show here or download below.

Produced by Dori Smith, WHUS, FM 91.7 a Pacifica Affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT
TRT: 29:25

Download at Pacifica’s Audioport or use either Radio4all.net or Archive.org for various formats including podcasting.

We revisit a war crime in Afghanistan that has been acknowledged by US and Afghan officials. Perpetrators of the crime have not yet been held accountable. In 2002, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) shocked the world with their discovery of a mass grave containing what appeared to be Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters. Some estimates were that as many as 2,000 prisoners were buried there after they were known to have been in the custody of the Northern Alliance, US allies. Some had suffocated while being moved across Afghanistan in metal shipping containers, others were reportedly shot.

PHR’s Attorney Leonard Rubenstein wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking him to investigate and secure evidence at the mass grave site at Dasht-e-Leili in the vicinity of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has made repeated efforts to get Afghan, UN, and NATO authorities to cease evading responsibility and act immediately to secure this site.

When PHR could not obtain sufficient information about the mass grave site and the history of the people buried there they filed a FOIA, Freedom of Information Request with the US State Department and other branches of the federal government. We discuss what they learned and the more recent grisly discovery that the site was disturbed, some of the bodies removed.

Who removed the bodies and other evidence? Was it the notorious General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the leader of Afghanistan’s minority Uzbek community? Or was it some other militant or war lord?

Many within the loosely knit anti-Taleban Northern Alliance are known to have had occasional support from the US military and intelligence community. Was it someone fearing reprisals or even prosecution after the end of protection under the Bush administration?

Physicians for Human Rights renews it’s urgent call for Afghan leaders, US commanders and NATO forces to protect this site in the in northern Afghanistan.

Quick update: GAZA
UN halts Gaza aid shipments, cites Israeli attacks “We’ve been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed,” said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness, announcing the suspension.” and also this shocking paragraph: “Many of the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red Cross said rescue workers discovered young children too weak to stand who had stayed by their dead mothers.”

We also hear a portion of our interview with Josh Ruebner that we did not have time to air last week. Ruebner fills us in on the origins of the people of Gaza, their longstanding plight, and important details not being mentioned in the media throughout coverage of Israel’s air and ground assault that began some 12 days ago. We also discuss his thoughts on approaching those who are presently supporting Israel’s attacks, which he is calling war crimes.

And a news update with a clip of a report by Reuters’ Paul Chapman on Gaza, he reports Israel is considering further attacks in Gaza cities and refugee camps.

Others on Talk Nation Radio such as UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, tend to agree that Israel has committed violations of the cease fire. While we will try to have other voices on, we have made the editorial decision that there is already massive coverage portraying the “Israeli” view on events in Gaza over the past two weeks.

Please also see this week’s Sprouts on Gaza. Sprouts is produced by Pacifica Affiliates and others and airs weekly. And extensive coverage on Democracy Now here and here which puts Christopher Gunness, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), on the line from Gaza and Meagan Buren, Senior Adviser to the Israel Project, a pro-Israeli group in Washington, D.C. and Jerusalem, from the US.

Israeli leaders are clearly waging a propaganda war, routine for the US ally, though US news anchors seldom appear to recognize it when they see it.

2002 Israel cited by Reporters sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) as a press predator, Sharon mentioned in this article by RWB here saying, “More than 40 journalists have been wounded in shooting by the Israeli army since September 2000 and since Ariel Sharon became prime minister in February last year, 17 journalists have been wounded, 70 have come under fire and 15 foreign or Palestinian media offices have been occupied by the Israeli army. Since the start of Operation Rampart on 29 March this year, at least 30 journalists have been arrested and six of them – all Palestinians – are still being detained. –”The Israeli army is acting with complete impunity. This is also intolerable. How many more must die before the army stops attacking the media?”

Also on the same page, for 30 December 2008 see “Media involved in several incidents since start of Israeli offensive against Gaza Strip,”
“Reporters Without Borders is concerned about several incidents affecting the news media since Israel began its air strikes on the Gaza Strip on 27 December, including the bombing of the headquarters of the Hamas TV station Al-Aqsa TV, as well as Israel’s ban on all international news media entering the territory.” The group condemned the attacks on the press: “Reporters Without Borders condemned the bombing of Al-Aqsa TV as a “flagrant violation of humanitarian law” in a letter today to Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak. “The television station’s use as a propaganda outlet by Hamas does not make it a legitimate military target” they said.

And on Operation Cast Lead see Michel Chossudovsky, January 4, 2009. He says, “Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”(Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)–It was Israel which broke the truce on the day of the US presidential elections, November 4, [2008].”

See also these stories for background information this story on Israel’s propaganda war from January 2009, this one from 2006 regarding Lebanon, an OPED on US propaganda in Iraq by Middle East Report’s Chris Toensing Lebanon from 2004, this piece on Israel’s opinion shapers re Lebanon invasion, and here see: ‘Quick someone call the irony police. The Israelis are demanding that Lebanon and every other player with a stake in the Middle East comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559. That’s the one that calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, including, of course, Hezbollah. ‘ — and finally this list of stories about Israeli violations of the cease fire. Israel has been telling the world that their assault on Gaza was in retaliation for Hamas rockets, however, the major corporate press in the USA seems unable to connect the dots to realize that if that argument held, Hamas would also be able to legitimize it’s rocket attacks against Israel. They are of course violations of the ceasefire, and of international law, as one after another guest on Talk Nation Radio has pointed out. They do not, however, legitimize Israel’s actions. See:

NYT version of events, Israeli war planes bomb UN school By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER Published: January 6, 2009 GAZA — “Israeli mortar shells killed as many as 40 Palestinians, among them women and children, outside a United Nations school in Gaza on Tuesday where they were taking refuge in the 11th day of the conflict. The Israeli military contended that Hamas fighters had fired mortars from the school compound, and United Nations officials called for an independent inquiry into the episode. ”

Israel seeking ceasefire agreement that excludes Hamas Turkish Press January 5, 2009.

Rick Sanchez of CNN confirms Israel violated ceasefire, video on Youtube here from Jan 5, 2009.

Harvard’s Sara Roy overview here.

Israeli raid in Lebanon violated UN ceasefire: Annan, Saturday, August 19, 2006, CBC News, Canadian Broadcast Corp.

Reuters on Gaza here.

Peace Groups actively involved here:

WILPF, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom here.

Israeli peace group say stop the bombing here.

Airing at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time: Talk Nation Radio interview with Sussanah Sirkin, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights, on the recent disturbance of a mass grave site in Afghanistan. PHR has long called for protection for the site and an investigation.

Also, Gaza update, background on population there. Obama said to have ‘vowed’ to work for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He has been increasingly criticized for his failure to say anything as Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza and ground forces invaded the tiny Palestinian region where some 1.5 million people have been living under an Israeli blockade.

See this story on Obama’s silence, which mentions comments by his staff member David Axelrod: “In a CBS interview a week ago, Obama’s aide David Axelrod recalled that when then-candidate Obama visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot in July, he voiced understanding for Israel’s urge to end Hamas rocket attacks on Sderot from Gaza.

On the broader issue of Middle East peace, Obama promised to engage in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking from the start but has yet to propose a policy shift that might rescue a two-state solution from oblivion”.

Listen to the broadcast here.

PHR bio for today’s guest. And web page on Afghanistan here.
Afghanistan Mass Grave blog here.