talknationradio.com

Talk Nation Radio for August 26, 2009
Ridgely Fuller, US Weapons to Israel, Health Crisis for Gaza War Victims

Codepink member speaks out about DIME (dense inert metal explosive) weapons sold to Israel by US during the Bush administration’s tenure in the White House. See also Democracy Now coverage of Dime here.

Please use corrected versions of this broadcast for air and for linking to internet pages and netcasts, podcasts. Original upload was wrong version and had slight imperfections, we have corrected them. Thanks very much!

Producers, hosts: Please use this broadcast: Ridgely Fuller, Codepink member, updated version

TRT: 29:50 … with corrections, music fades 9 seconds.
Produced by Dori Smith
see urls to corrected versions. Not italicized.

New version, corrected: Audioport Archive.org and Radio4all.net

Ridgely Fuller is a social worker and Tufts’ School of Law and Diplomacy graduate with a deep commitment to peace in the MidEast. She has used her skills to foster healing after Israeli air attacks left 5,000 Gazans wounded during the winter of 2009. She visited Israel and Palestine during 2002, again in 2003, and her latest visit was in June of 2009. She has also worked to foster understanding between US, Israeli, and American Jews and Palestinians, working to support regional women’s organizations and human rights groups in Israel and Palestine by participating in an international woman’s march and other activities.

Click here to watch a video of Ridgely teaching a large group of Palestinian kids the Hokey Pokey online at Youtube.

Ridgely Fuller is touring the East Coast with a slide show on Palestine, and will visit Connecticut on September 14th to speak at the First Church of Christ in Mansfield. Her talk will begin at 7 PM. The well known church is located at 549 Storrs Rd. at the intersection of Routes 195 and 89. The event is sponsored by the Israel/Palestine Peace, Education and Action Group of Eastern Connecticut.

Topics for this week’s program:

1. Israel has continued it’s pressure on Palestinian fisherman, curtailing still more of the amount of farm land that can be used for food and market crops by shooting at farmers even before they cross an Israeli imposed boundary on Palestinian land.

2. Israel has been blocking efforts to complete a new hospital facility that would treat 5,000 civilians wounded during Israeli attacks this past winter. Brand new equipment such as a new MRI machine cannot be used because Israel refuses to allow an isotope part to be brought into Gaza.

3. Parts of Gaza still flattened from Israeli air strikes, otherwise some reconstruction efforts have taken place but most are still being blocked.

4. Importance of person to person diplomacy, US and Palestine.

Be sure to visit our new blog: http://willtoresistwar.blogspot.com/ where you will find a complete listing of events featuring journalist Dahr Jamail who has been a frequent guest on Talk Nation Radio. Dahr will speak in Willimantic at the Wrench in the Works collective, Sat. Sept 19, 2009, time to be announced, and at Hope Out Loud 8, Bushnell Park, Hartford, Sunday Sept 20th, UCONN, The University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT., then on Monday September 21, 2009 he will speak to students and the general public at ECSU, Eastern Connecticut State University, followed by a talk at CCSU, Central Connecticut State University and then Wesleyan University in Middletown. See blog for details and lists of sponsors.

Note: Singer/Songwriter David Rovics has been added to the program at Wesleyan University Monday September 21, 2009 at 8 PM in Middletown, Connecticut.

Join us next time as we hear about Dahr Jamail’s new book: The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Monitor the blog for updates on events.

Talk Nation Radio for August 20, 2009

Afghanistan’s Invisible History, Gould and Fitzgerald
Part two of two, each stands alone

Authors of the book, ‘Invisible History, Afghanistan’s Untold Story’

TRT: 29:52 music fades 12 seconds
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here: Or try Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Music by Fritz Heede

Listen here

Topics include:
-The history of British and US imperialists who have long sought to dominate Afghansitan.
-What the Obama administration must and must not do.
-The cost of the Afghan war, could Afghansitan bankrupt America?
-How US foreign policy has strengthened the extremists and undermined social progress.

We turn once again to our discussion with Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, the husband and wife writing team who were the only journalists to gain access to Afghanistan in 1981, after the Soviet invasion. They then co wrote the book, “Invisible History, Afghanistan’s Untold Story.” Their web site is: http://www.invisiblehistory.com.

As Afghans go to the polls, we consider the impact of US foreign and military policies on their country dating back to the 1970s. Their book delves into the history dating back to before the turn of the century, and reveals a budding democracy, woman’s rights, up until US support for misogynist war lords like Gulbadin Heckmaytar, led to an increase in power for extremists.

Afghanistan is vital to the foreign policy interests of many nations. But the real history of the impact of British colonialism, and America’s covert alliances with war lords and terrorists dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, is seldom discussed.

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald offer their insights and warnings to President Barack Obama, and assess how US foreign policy is going. They also assess the role played by individuals with commitments to a form of mystical imperialism, with goals of dominating Afghanistan. They will not succeed, according to the authors.

If they befriended the Afghan people, took measures to re-stabilize their country, and build a strong Afghanistan, the US would insure stability and friendship in the region.

Syndicated with Pacifica Network

Articles of interest: Powers line up to stir Afghanistan’s pot
By M K Bhadrakumar, here

Afghanistan news, New York Times, elections

Talk Nation Radio for August 13, 2009

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald on Afghanistan’s Invisible History

Topics:
*The Durand Line, created in 1893 by India’s Foreign Secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand.
*Former Afghan leader, Mohammed Daoud, and his difficulties with US anti-communist figures who thought he might be ‘turning lefty’.
*Former National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, under Nixon, and former National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, under Carter.
*The introduction to ‘Invisible History’ was written by human rights expert Sima Wali. She wrote about the important roles Afghan women held prior to the late 1970s when she fled the country. Gould and Fitzgerald discuss the Afghanistan they saw, the one Sima Wali grew up in, versus the one US policies helped create under several different US administrations extending from Nixon through George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Next time we will hear their thoughts on what the Obama White House can do to improve US policy toward Afghanistan. Should the US withdraw forces? They say de-militarization of US policy in Afghanistan is the answer.

TRT: 29:19
Produced by Dori Smith, Talk Nation Radio studios, Storrs, CT
Syndicated with Pacifica Network
Download at: Pacifica’s Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We will spend the next few programs looking at Afghanistan, as conditions are being prepared on the ground in Helmand Province and other parts of the country for elections scheduled for August 20th.

The US press has been documenting the increase of US forces in Afghanistan, but little has been said about the impact of US involvement since WWII, on this land known as ‘the graveyard of empires.’

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald discuss their book, ‘Invisible History, Afghanistan’s Untold Story,’ City Lights books, San Francisco. Their blog is Invisible History.

After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, all Western media was expelled. But in 1981, Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald became the first US journalists to gain entry into Afghanistan. Their book has been praised by many US scholars including Chalmers Johnson and Noam Chomsky.

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald return next week when we hear more on how the US resorted to support for war lords like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, CIA support for feudal landlords and Muslim fundamentalists. What were some of the consequences of long standing CIA efforts to expand the influence of the extremist Wahhabist tribe of Al Saud? and Al Qaeda?

The Afghan people have suffered tremendously as one empire builder after the next took their shot at domination. As we hear from Gould and Fitzgerald, they resist that domination and they keep trying to achieve a more independent nation.

This day in news on Afghanistan: Helmand Province: Washington Post,
By Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press, Thursday, August 13, 2009

NPR Morning Edition: The lead to this interview with Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn was that the US Military are trying to better understand the Afghan people. The Major General tells Renee Montagne. “The surrounding districts around the city … the Taliban feels pretty comfortable there right now.” He also expresses some frustration about the fact that they cannot easily tell an Afghan civilian from a member of the Taliban..by what they are wearing.)

UK Courts try Afghanistan War Resister: Soldier in court accused of desertion
Press Association, ‘An expert witness on the lawfulness of war in Afghanistan could be called to give evidence at the court martial of a soldier who refused to fight’.

‘Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, 27, from the Royal Logistic Corps, faces one charge of desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan.’

The Man Who Shouldn’t be King (of Afghanistan) The Return of the Heckmatyar. 1-24-2009, By PAUL FITZERGALD and ELIZABETH GOULD Counterpunch

By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, February 24, 2009, Mumbai Terror’s Afghan Roots, ZNet, By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, December 19, 2008

Mumbai Terror’s Afghan Roots Counterpunch By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, December 16, 2008

A Message for the New President Stop Killing Afghans Counterpunch, By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, December 4, 2008

Struggle ahead for Afghanistan The Boston Globe, By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, July 30, 2008

Casualties of Charlie Wilson’s War The Boston Globe, By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, January 11, 2008

Talk Nation Radio for August 6, 2009
Dr. Alice Rothchild, Settlements in East Jerusalem as a Roadblock to Peace

We continue our conversation with Dr. Alice Rothchild author of ‘Broken Promises, Broken Dreams–Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience’.

Negotiations with Israel on a possible settlement freeze have fallen short. The settlements are an obstacle to peace, explains Dr. Rothchild. Other crises for Palestinians such as the ongoing blockade of Gaza continue, we hear about the lack of health care, and the lack of information getting out to Israelis and Americans about what is really going on in Palestine.

TRT: 29:20

This is Part two of an earlier program. Part one can be found here. Both programs stand alone.

Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here or here and search Talk Nation Radio.
Or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Music
Our theme music is by Fritz Heede
We also hear, We Shall Not Be Moved, performed by ‘A Besere Velt’ choir. In English their name means, ‘A Better World’. Dr. Rothchild and her husband sing in this community chorus, which is part of the Boston Workmen’s Circle. [You can find a link to this Music here.]

From today’s broadcast
Dr. Alice Rothchild, on the Israeli settlements:

‘I think that understanding the impact of the settlements is critical to understanding the conflict. Because if you can imagine that there is this territory called the West Bank which is 22% of historic Palestine, which in the 1980′s [Yasser] Arafat said OK just give us the 22% and we’ll agree to lay down our arms and recognize a two state solution. And then you imagine, since 1967 a steady growth of Jewish towns and cities which are called settlements into this territory so that now there are some, almost 500,000 Jews living in settlements and in greater Jerusalem and in ever expanding neighborhoods in Jerusalem; this is a major land grab.
It also involves the most fertile soil, and the water aquifers, and in the Middle East, water is gold. So what the settlements do is they create facts on the ground, and these facts on the ground are totally in favor of Jewish settlers. So that when you travel around the West Bank, when I travel around the West Bank, you see all of these cities that are built on hilltops and then in the valleys there are Palestinian towns that are basically starving, that don’t have enough water, that don’t have a good road, that don’t have electricity. And what happens with the settlements is that there are sort of approved settlements, which are still illegal, and then there are unapproved settlements, which are also illegal. And the unapproved ones are the little caravans and the settlements keep going further and further into the West Bank, and its totally destroying the Palestinian economy.
Peace Now said it is something like, I don’t know whether it’s 93% of settlements are built on private Palestinian land. There is some number that’s just stunning. So this is a land grab. And this is attempting to create facts on the ground that when there is a final settlement will be in favor of Jews owning more territory without Palestinians in it.
So I think the fact that Obama actually called attention to this was very important, I mean as opposed to Bush who said, Oh settlements are OK and sort of gave his blessing. But it’s not only settlements, it’s the fact of settlements‘.

Dr. Alice Rothchild is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, and she has devoted much of her medical career to working on behalf of poor and under served communities. She has been a tireless advocate for woman’s rights, and was Medical Director of the Women’s Community Health Center in Cambridge, Mass. during the 1970s.
She then co-founded the non profit medical organization, Urban Woman and Child Health, Inc. in Jamaica Plain, Mass. and later joined the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She became a member of the staff of Harvard Community Health Plan, now Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.

During our interview July 27, 2009, Dr. Alice Rothchild spoke about the significance of Israeli settlements when it comes to any peace talks or other kinds of negotiations. She also addressed the health care crisis for Palestinians, especially women, who often must give birth at home in unplanned natural pregnancies due to a lack of ability to cross checkpoints to get to a hospital.

See Dr. Alice Rothchild’s article, Avigdor’s Ascent here. And her more recent piece, Lieberman’s Ascent has roots in 60 years of Jewish history, here.

She also warns Jews and others about evangelical leaders who would call on them to make Aliya, [also spelled, Aliyah] a spiritual journey to Israel:

‘I would say that making an all with people whose main goal is to get you there so there can be an apocalypse and you can either die or convert is a really dubious kind of decision and that Jews who do that have basically sold their soul. And a lot of settlements are funded by the evangelical right. So you have to ask, with friends like this? What are you doing? It’s another one of those serious problematic things in political history’.

This is the Jewish Government’s description of Aliya.

Dr. Rothchild expressed these concerns in response to our questions about Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder of Wings of Eagles, a group that raises money through infomercials asking Christians to give money to pay air fare to bring Jews from Russia, Ethiopia, and other places, to Israel. The fund raising videos feature former Watergate felon, Charles [Chuck] Colson, singer Pat Boon, and US Senator Joseph Lieberman, endorsing the Rabbi. Some of the fund raising videos began with the words, end days’ repeated three times.

Here is a link to an article by Bill Berkowitz in Talk to Action, about Rabbi Eckstein. He points out that Eckstein partnered with Ralph Reed in 2002 to found, Stand for Israel. In his own descriptions of what his organization does, Rabbi Eckstein says they raise money, pray, work to build support for Israel, and lobby.

As of March 2008 in Gaza, health care conditions had deteriorated to the point where many complicated surgeries could no longer be done, that according to a Time Magazine story by Tim McGirk. Palestinian children face starvation, stunted growth, and the entire population faces extreme risks from diseases like tuberculosis, which had risen nearly 60% by 2003. Still the blockade continues and health care workers cannot get through with medical supplies or to offer their assistance.

Other credits: We also hear clips of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who called Israel’s eviction of 50 Palestinians, August 2nd a provocation. Norman Finkelstein, explains part of the history of what Hamas offered prior to the Israeli attack on Gaza. Did Israelis reject a more moderate Hamas that could have been a partner?
BBC Middle East reporter, Katya Adler, interviews students in settlement re land for peace.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says no to a freeze on settlements.