Middle East Panorama on Resonance رنين

BBC World Today interview with Nadim Mahjoub, a Tunisian and internationalist activist, and Said Ferjani, a founder of Al-Nahda.

The presenter was Lawrence Pollard and it was broadcast on 09 February 2011 at 0730 GMT on the World Today, BBC World Service Radio.

2011-01-02T22:36:00.001Z

As with any exclusive club, being a member of Parliament allows entry into new networks of privilege created by the economic shift, but it also enables access to information about economic rearrangements that is routinely hidden from public view. NDP hangers-on seek Parliament for the profits, while the opposition seeks Parliament for knowledge and proximity to the bureaucracy controlling public services. Because of its visible size, at 121 deputies, and its representation of normally excluded interests, the combined opposition in the 2005 parliament was able to clamor for the information and services that the NDP wanted to reserve for itself. So as to forestall a reprise, the regime decided to shutter Parliament as a place to do politics, reallocating the opposition’s valuable seats to a wider net of NDP dependents.
"The Liquidation of Egypt’s Illiberal Experiment"

2011-01-02T14:43:00.000Z

Gazan youth issue manifesto to vent their
anger with all sides in the conflict

2010-12-29T18:31:00.015Z

The Rebirth of Arab Activism
Tunisia: IMF "Economic Medicine" has resulted
in Mass Poverty and Unemployment
A Tunisian town during protests, December 2010 (Al-Jazeera.net)

Articles:
"Tunisia Struggles to End Protests"
Tunisia’s Zine Ben Ali: So…will the end be gracious or graceless?
CORRUPTION IN TUNISIA: WHAT'S YOURS IS MINE
Unemployed Protests in Tunisia
Special from Tunisia: Al-Jazeera accused of exaggerating popular unrest
Special from Tunisia: Self-immolation by desperate youth sets off rare wave of protests
Tunisia: The battle of Sidi Bouzid
Youth Unemployment Sparks Tunisian Tinderbox
How a man setting fire to himself sparked an uprising in Tunisia

2010-12-17T16:52:00.000Z

Book exposes Israeli occupation as seen by troops

2010-12-11T00:25:00.000Z

2010-12-10T17:10:00.002Z

Surge in US Students of Arabic

2010-11-28T12:02:00.005Z

Egypt's discredited elections blighted by police violence
The Dynamics of Egypt’s Elections

2010-11-22T19:07:00.006Z

The New Egyptian Novel by Sabry Hafez
The Novel, Politics and Islam by Sabry Hafez

2010-11-22T18:57:00.001Z

جورج طرابيشي يفتح أبواب العقل والنوافذ على مصاريعها

2010-11-17T11:27:00.001Z

Is the Al-Kitaab Arabic language textbook anti-Israel?

Our Ignorance and our Interests

2010-10-31T21:56:00.004Z

Our Ignorance and our Interests

Behind Egypt’s Deep Red Lines

2010-10-23T14:11:00.004Z

The Egyptian regime is practiced at deflecting the public’s attention from grave political and economic crises with the religion card.
Behind Egypt’s Deep Red Lines by Mariz Tadros

الجزيرة "تكشف المستور" في العراق

2010-10-22T23:22:00.001Z

الجزيرة "تكشف المستور" في العراق

The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation

2010-10-15T23:02:00.000Z

The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation

Memoirs of an Interpreter

2010-10-08T22:24:00.000Z

McLoughlin of Arabia: memoirs of an interpreter

Egypt

2010-10-01T19:19:00.005Z

The Struggle for Worker Rights in Egypt (pdf)
The Dynamics of Egypt’s Elections

الترجمة و القراءة عند العرب

2010-09-25T22:50:00.005Z

إن مجموع ما يترجمه العرب سنويا يساوي خمس ما تترجمه اليونان، و لم يترجم العرب سوى 11000 كتابا منذ العصر العباسي (منذ ألف سنة) و حتى وقتنا الحاضر، و في إسبانيا وحدها يتم ترجمة أكثر من 11000 كتابا في العام الواحد! أما متوسط القراءة لكل فرد في المنطقة العربية فهو يساوي 10 دقائق في السنة بمعدل ربع صفحة مقابل 11 كتابا في السنة للفرد في أمريكا و 7 كتب في بريطانيا.

تقرير الأمم المتحدة للتنمية البشرية 2009

Learning Arabic with Rosetta Stone?

2010-09-18T21:04:00.001Z

Learning Arabic with Rosetta Stone?

Reading Arabic 'hard for brain'

2010-09-15T21:59:00.001Z

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11181457

Political Prisoners in Iran; Tribute to Palestinian Poet

2010-09-01T22:48:00.000Z

Political Prisoners in Iran; Tribute to Palestinian Poet (audio)

Learn Arabic

2010-08-20T22:02:00.001Z

Are you in London! Like a challenge! Learn Arabic!
Visit: Alifyae.com

Life As Politics

2010-08-17T23:31:00.003Z

Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East
[a book]

Scientific Miracles in the Quran?

2010-08-14T21:18:00.003Z

1. The Myth of Scientific Miracles in the Quran
2. Erroneous Science and Contradictions in the Quran

Learn Arabic by an experienced native speaker

2010-04-11T14:08:00.000Z

Nadim Mahjoub is of a Tunisian origin. He moved to London in 2000. He was an English teacher in Tunisia. Nadim completed his CELTA in London in 2005, taught ECDL and English before moving to teaching Arabic at International House. He was also a visiting lecturer at University of Westminster during the academic year 2009-10.
Besides Arabic, Nadim speaks English and French fluently and he uses the communicative approach in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers.
Nadim also has some experience in interpreting.
Contacts:
Tel: 07552450082
E-mail: nadimmahjoub@gmail.com

Sunday 14 March 2010

2010-03-12T20:02:00.003Z

Sociology Professor Asef Bayat taks about his recently published book, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East, where he focuses on the diverse ways in which ordinary people, the subaltern- the urban dispossessed, women, the globalizing youth, and other urban grass roots- strive to affect the contours of change in their societies.
Sunday on 1014.4 FM between noon and 1
or streamed on www.esonancefm.com

The interview is taken from Voices of the Middle East and North Africa and was first broadcast on KPFA Radio, Berkeley, US.

Sunday 28 February 2010

2010-02-25T22:30:00.002Z

What is going on in Iran today? Is there a revolution? What is the nature of the opposition movement and what is its future? Does it have any support from the West? And more questions will be answered by Maziar Razi, an Iranian with 37 years of militancy within the workers movement, founder of Iranian Workers Solidarity Network and spokesperson of the Iranian Revolutionary Marxist Tendency. Razi argues that in Iran today "we cannot even speak about a pre-revolutionary situation" drawing a parallel with the events of 1978-79.
Sunday between 12:00 and 13:00 GMT on 104.4 FM
or online: www.resonancefm.com

To listen

To download

14 February 2010

2010-02-13T21:46:00.003Z

Middle East Panorama will be reporting on a social gathering on Saturday February 13 in London, a gathering organized by the International Committee for the Third Option "to denounce", what the organizers call "recent executions in support of Iran uprisings and in memory of 120,000 brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for peace and freedom since 1981."

Sunday between 12:00 and 13:00 GMT on 104.4 FM
or www.resonancefm.com

24 January 2010

2010-01-23T16:17:00.005Z

Selection from previous shows

- "The Myths of Zionism" by John Rose (May 2008)

"Class and Sect in the Middle East" by Anne Alexander (Jan 2008)

"Politics in the Cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab World" by Lina Khatib (August 2008)

17 January 2010

2010-01-16T23:26:00.000Z

The Quiet American in Yemen, elimination of subsidies in Iran, music from Morocco. Resonance FM Radio 17 January 2010.

10 January 2010

2010-01-16T23:13:00.004Z

Sounds and music from Istanbul, Turkey.
Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

20 December 2009

2009-12-20T01:27:00.004Z

Between 26 of December 2008 and 18 January 2009 Israel carried out a military assault on Gaza.
Here is a discussion that took place at the time between a Marxist (Heiko Khoo) and a Jewish supporter of Israel. The event took place at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park, London 04 January 2009, and recorded by Nadim Mahjoub.
It was first broadcast on Resonance FM radio.
Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Sunday 13 December 2009

2009-12-13T20:10:00.001Z

Arabs, Muslims and the Poverty of Liberal Thought' is a talk by Steven Salaita, author of "The Uncultured Wars". Steven Salaita, RAWI Executive Director, is Assistant Professor of English at Virginia Tech. His other books include "Anti-Arab Racism in the USA", "The Holy Land in Transit", and "Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics".

22 November 2009

2009-11-20T21:31:00.007Z

"The life and the music of Zohar Argov reflect the struggle of Mizrahim in Israel." In this week show Benjamin Rosendahl, a freelance journalist, translator and holder of a degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem talks about the time and music of Zohar Argov.

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

15 November 2009

2009-11-15T13:18:00.003Z

Part 2 of an interview with Sami Shalom Chetrit author of Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel: White Jews, Black Jews (Routledge publication, October 2009) and an essay on the Black Panthers in Israel.

Sunday 08 November

2009-11-08T12:50:00.004Z

Part 1 of 2 of an interview with Sami Shalom Chetrit author of Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel: White Jews, Black Jews (Routledge publication, October 2009) and an essay on the Black Panthers in Israel.

Part 1

Hello Nadim,
Don't know if this will be of interest to you:-

Is Israel Marketing a New Conflict?
Sam Gardiner, 7 November 2009
http://www.spinwatch.org/blogs-mainmenu-29/sam-gardiner-mainmenu-106/5329-is-israel-marketing-a-new-conflict

Enjoyed part one of the Sami Shalom Chetrit interview. It's not easy for westerners such as myself to get an insight into what's happening in the Middle East. Your programme has been infinitely more useful in than all of my years listening to the BBC.
Hope you're well,
BET

Sunday 01 November 2009

2009-10-28T22:47:00.005Z

Islam in Power? An interview with Hadani Ditmars, co-editor of the New Internationalist magazine.
News and analysis: Yemen, Egypt and Iran.
Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Sunday 11 October 2009

2009-10-11T00:29:00.001Z

- Barak Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Interview with Kaveh Ehsani from DePaul University on the economic and social situation in Iran. The interview was produced by Voices of the Middle East and North Africa on KPFA Radio, Berkeley, USA.
- Iran's alleged nuclear programmes.

Sunday 4 October 2009

2009-10-02T20:56:00.003Z

Music and sounds from the Middle East and North Africa.

Iran's Nuclear Threat is a Lie, says John Pilger.

Unilever PG Tips Monkey on London Casual-T Tour

Sunday 27 September 2009

2009-09-23T21:24:00.004Z

An interview with Shiva Balaghi. Ms Balaghi talks to MEP about Maziar Bahari's film "Football Iranian Style" and also about Bahari's other documentaries: "Paint No Matter What" (about the Iranian artist Khosrow Hassanzadeh) and "Along Came A Spider" (about a serial killer in Iran which was based in part on an art project that Hassanzadeh created). Cumulatively, Maziar's documentaries helped bring greater attention to the vibrant creative cultural, intellectual, and social life in Iran.
Shiva Balaghi is a historian of the modern Middle East, with special interests in the interrelated histories of colonialism, nationalism, gender and visual culture. She is a Cogut International Humanities Fellow at Brown University, where she teaches history. She is completing a book on the cultural history of Iran from the mid-nineteenth century through the present.

Also in the show, the recent anti-government protests in Iran and the character of the opposition movement led by defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Sunday 20 September 2009

2009-09-18T10:39:00.007Z

Israel-Palestine, settlements expansion, peace talks, Obama' policies in the Middle East, social unrest in Egypt, Lebanon.
The State and religion in Egypt.

Views by: Amr Hamzawy senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and co-editor with Marina Ottaway of a recent book: "Getting to Pluralism Political Actors" and Jean Shaoul, professor at Manchester University and contributor to the World Socialist Website.

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Sunday 13 September 2009

2009-08-26T10:34:00.010Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)
Alan Hart (BBC Panorama programme and ITN's News correspondent, researcher and producer of "Five Minutes to Midnight" film) is the author of a recent book: "Zionism - The Real Enemy of the Jews". Here you will listen to Hart's ideas expressed in the book. The show includes an interview with the author.
Labour news from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Iran.

Related:
Dilemma of Palestinian Settlement Builders (the BBC)
"PA intends to bypass failing peace talks and establish its own state within two years." (The Times, UK)

Mazen Kerbaj

2009-08-22T13:42:00.008Z

F & D by Mazen Kerbaj

The Lebanese worker finally finds his daily bread by Mazen Kerbaj

Drawings by Mazen Kerbaj

Sunday 02 August 2009

2009-07-27T21:41:00.009Z

""Only nations which liberate themselves can be free."
Malalai Joya "really is one of the bravest women in Afghanistan". She told the 300-strong audience at Conway Hall in central London last week that she has survived five assassination attempts and is still not safe with personal security guards or by wearing a burkha to cover her identity. Yet she continues to campaign against foreign occupation and fundamentalist warlords, and for women's rights and education. She believes all NATO troops must leave Afghanistan immediately.

On July 16 thousands of quarry workers in Egypt went on strike in the central province of Al-Minya, in opposition to a decision by the authorities to impose a tax of E£40 on each ton of quarried rock. The tax had led some quarries to close and lay off their workers. The dispute is only one of several ongoing textile workers’ strikes since privatisation, despite the brutality with which last year’s strike at Mahalla al-Kubra was put down.

Sunday 26 July 2009

2009-07-20T21:49:00.015Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

An interview with Yasser Alwan about his work "The Liberty of Appearing - Photographs of Egyptian Working People" (Peacock Imprint, 2008, edited by Richard Peacock with an introduction by John Molyneux, Senior Art theory Lecturer, University of Portsmouth). "Yasser Alwan's subjects are sometimes alone, always in a crowd, recognisably Egyptian, resembling everybody else ... Global struggle corralled into an Arab street corner. Still life speaking to the world of how it sees itself..."(Eamonn McCann, author of War and an Irish Town). "These are wonderful photographs. They are very simple, the subjects shine out, and here is humanity without any sentimentality." (Red Saunders, photographer & founder Rock Against Racism).
http://www.yasser-alwan.com/
Listen to the interview:

19 July 2009

2009-07-14T13:38:00.008Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

"The Good War? Afghanistan in the media". Listen to columnist Seumas Milne from the Guardian newspaper (UK) speaking in a public meeting organised by Media Workers Against the War and Stop the War Coalition. (Friends Meeting House, London 13 July 2009).

Ishmahil Blagrove, a filmmaker and public speaker, speaks about his recent attempt to enter Gaza, his arrest in an Isareli prison, and the aim of the trip which was organised by 21 activists from 11 countries including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mairead Maguire, in order to deliver a cargo of medical aid, toys and building supplies.

Labour news from Egypt

12 July 2009

2009-07-10T11:52:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Groundhog Day in Afghanistan: "Operation Panther's Claw" in Afghanistan and the British Media.
Amy Goodman from "Democracy Now" in conversation with the journalist and film-maker John Pilger on Honduras, Iran, Gaza, health care in the US and "Obama's war" in Afghanistan-Pakistan.

05 July 2009

2009-07-01T21:33:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Iran:
Background article by Kaveh Ehsani
Survival Through Dispossession: Privatization of Public Goods in the Islamic Republic

More:
Tehran, June 2009 by Kaveh Ehsani

28 June 2009

2009-06-19T14:28:00.010Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)
Listen to Jonas, the youngest pro Israel Jew I ever met. He is 12 years old, but able to hold a meeting at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park, London.
Iran: Mourad Shirin from the Iranian Revolutionary Marxists' Tendency speaks on the current situation in the country.

Articles:
Iran Falls to US PSYOPS
The New York Times and Iran
The New York Times and the Iranian elections

14 June 2009

2009-06-14T12:06:00.003Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould in conversation with C S Sung about Afghanistan's history pre-1960 in "Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story" (City Lights, 2009). The show was first broadcast by Against the Grain on KPFA Radio, Berkeley, US.

24 May 2009

2009-05-24T15:38:00.000Z

An interview with Salaam Youssif on "The Decline of Leftist Intelligenstia in Iraq. Salaam Yousif received his B.A. in English from the University of Baghdad and taught in Iraqi and Algerian high schools for several years. In 1978 he left for the United States to pursue his graduate studies. He got his Ph.D. in Comparative literature from the University of Iowa and he currently teaches world literature at California State University...

17 May 2009

2009-05-15T23:55:00.002Z

Imran Aslam, veteran Pakistani journalist and President of Geo TV, Pakistan’s premier television news channel, and Kamran Ali, Associate Professor Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at University of Austin in Texas talked to Shahram Aghamir of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa on KPFA Radion in Berkeley in the United States. Imran Aslam and Kamran Ali discuss the U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the role of regional players such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and India in the war in Afghanistan.

10 May 2009

2009-04-30T20:56:00.008Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)
Around 20 delegates, including envoys from the UK, France, and Finland stood up and left the room at what was considered an anti-Semitic remark by the Iranian leader in his speech at the UN Conference against racism. The Iranian president called Israel "racist". I asked Joel Kovel, author of "Overcoming Zionism" (Pluto Press 2007) whether the Israeli state (and society) is racist.

26 April 2009

2009-04-25T14:17:00.009Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Obituary: the Arab Sundanese novelist Tayib Salih.
"How the Jewish people were invented, from the Bible to Zionism" is the provocative title of the most recent book to be published in Israel by Shlomo Sand, a professor at Tel Aviv University. Khalil Bendib talked to Sand (from Voices of the Middle East and North Africa on KPFA Radio, Berkeley).
The BBC, Jeremy Bowen and the pro-Israeli lobby.

19 April 2009

2009-04-15T14:16:00.004Z

The United States and its allies oppose North Korea and Iran having nuclear weapons. The argument against North Korea may well be the same argument used against Iran. The non-prolifeartion treaty was signed in1962, i.e. after the most powerful states, the richest and of the so-called “free-world”, had already acquired nuclear weapons.
Many people in the richest capitalist countries believe that since their countries are free and democratic, inherently, when their governments intervene abroad, that intervention is aimed for “the greater good.” If on the other side these governments make “mistakes”, future elected governments would correct later “correct” those “mistakes”. Other people go further by arguing that their goverments have a sort of a historical duty to some countries that they had occupied in the past. But to what extent does the historical record of the Western states support such argument?
The asnwer to these questions comes from a meeting that took place at Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park in London on the 12th of April 2009. The main speaker was Heiko Khoo, but also present was a member of the Conservative Party in Britain as well as a couple of British people.
Also in the show: Labour reports from Iraq, Iran and Egypt.

12 April 2009

2009-04-12T16:27:00.001Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London) Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

The presidential elections in Algeria.
Review of the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir.
Obituary: The violinist and composer Abboud abdel Aal.

05 April 2009

2009-04-04T13:29:00.004Z

Eyal Weizman, author of Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation, talking to C S Sung. The interview was first broadcast on Against the Grain show on KPFA Radio.

22 March 2009

2009-03-21T12:11:00.001Z

History Professor Beshara Doumani will be in conversation with Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi about his new book entitled Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Hegemony in the Middle East. In his new work, Professor Khalidi dissects the crucial dynamics of power in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union as it played out in the Middle East, compellingly arguing that the intense rivalry between the U.S. and the USSR in the region set the stage for the tragic conflicts that have followed in its long wake. The full conversation was first broadcast by Voices of North Africa and the Middle East East on KPFA Radio, Berkeley, United States, on 4 February 2009.

15 March 2009

2009-03-13T15:59:00.005Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or resonancefm.com (worldwide)

The class nature of the Iranian Revolution. According to Edward Mortimer of the Spectator the Iranian Revolution was "a genuine popular revolution in the fullest sense of the word: the most genuine, probably since 1917." But was it an Islamic revolution? Interviews with Torab Saleth from the journal Critique and member of Hands off the People of Iran (hopi) and Chris Moore from The Socialist Party (Britain).
Listen to Torab Saleth

Listen to Chris Moore

08 March 2009

2009-03-07T14:54:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or http://www.resonancefm.com/ (worldwide)

The Iranian Revolution: Thirty Years on. In this first part two Iranians talk about the student movement and their experience.

Dissection of Hillary Clinton's first visit to the Middle East as Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

22 February 2009

2009-02-18T13:20:00.007Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or http://www.resonancefm.com/ (worldwide)

Interview with Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, Professor of Nuclear Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has been a faculty member at the Quaid-e-Azam University since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and is the author of 65 scientific research papers. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization which publishes books in Urdu on women’s rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought. Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of ’Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’, now in 5 languages.
In 2003, Dr. Hoodbhoy was awarded UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for popularizing science in Pakistan with TV serials and his film ’The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth’ won honorable mention at the Paris Film Festival.

The Fight over the Meaning of Islam is an essay by Sadiq Jalal Al-Azm. Born in Damascus in 1934, Al-Azm studied philosophy in Beirut and has taught as a professor in New York, Beirut, Amman and Damascus. One of his best-known works is Critique of Religious Thought.

15 February 2009

2009-02-12T16:35:00.006Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or www.resonancefm.com (worldwide)

An interview with Richard Seymour about his book "The Liberal Defence of Murder" (Verso, May 2008). "Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of prominent thinkers on the Left found themselves increasingly aligned with their ideological opposites. Over the last decade, many of these thinkers have become close to Washington; forceful supporters of the War on Terror, they help frame arguments for policymakers and provide the moral and intellectual justification for Western military intervention across the globe. From Kanan Makiya, one of the chief architects of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, to Bernard Henri-Levy’s advocacy of “humanitarian” intervention, The Liberal Defence of Murder traces the journey of these figures from left to right and explores their critical role in the creation of the new American empire. With wide-ranging testimony from many key figures on the left, this is a crucial account of the emergence of the “pro-war left,” and its shaping of our post-9/11 world."

08 February 2009

2009-02-04T13:38:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or Resonancefm.com (worldwide)

In his recent book “Pakistan’s Other Story” (The Struggle Publication) Lal Khan has surveyed the events of 1968-69 in the wider perspective of what was happening in the world at that juncture of time. “He cites developments in Egypt, Indonesia, France (May 1968), the Italian “hot autumn”, Ireland, Mexico, Czechoslovakia, the USA and the Vietnam war and then revisits Partition, analyses the Communist Party and the degeneration of the left leadership and the early failure of democracy in Pakistan, the crossing over of the fence to the American side, the emergence of the new industrialists, institutionalization of corruption leading up to the 1965 war. This whole commentary reads like new history as it looks at developments from a window on the backside of the traditional façade.” (The Dawn, 15 January 2009)From a book launch, Conway Hall, London.

According to Media Workers Against War, there are eight reasons why the BBC is wrong on Gaza.

Kurdish female activist sentenced to death in Iran. During the past two years the Iranian regime has sentenced 13 Kurdish activists to death.

Read: The Politics of Bollocks

01 February 2009

2009-02-01T22:19:00.005Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or Resonancefm.com (worldwide)

An interview with Lenni Brenner. Lenni Brenner was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. His involvement with the Black civil rights movement began on his first day in the organized left, when he met James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality, later the organizer of the "freedom rides" of the early 60s. He was active in the mid 50s with Bayard Rustin, later the organizer of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I had a dream" March on Washington.
He was an anti-war activist from the 1st days of the Vietnam war, speaking frequently at rallies in the Bay Area.
Mr. Brenner is the author of 4 books, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir, Jews in America Today, and The Lesser Evil: The Democratic Party. His books have been favorably reviewed in 10 languages by prominent publications, including the London Times, The London Review of Books, Moscow's Izvestia and the Jerusalem Post.
He has written over 100 articles for many publications, including the Amsterdam News, the Anderson Valley Advertizer, the Atlanta Constitution, CounterPunch, the Jewish Guardian, the Nation, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and others.
Brenner has an amusing response to the Zionist smear which is used against all Jewish critics of Zionism. At the "Jews against Zionism" forum in London on 18 June 2003, he said:
"Those who call me a self-hating Jew should talk to my girlfriends. They all tell me that I am in love with myself."
The interview was conducted on 26 January 2009. Brenner talked about Barak Obama, the American foreign policy and the Middle East.

23 January 2009

2009-01-14T19:55:00.013Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or Resonancefm.com (worldwide)

Gaza: from a rally organized by Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK). The rally took place on 8th of January in Friends Meeting House in London. Among those who spoke were: George Galloway MP and writer and fighter Tariq Ali.

Obituary: Mansour Rahabani. Renowned Lebanese composer Mansour Rahabani died Tuesday 13th January following a bout of pneumonia, leaving a legacy of innovation in the music and theater of Lebanon and the wider Arab world.

Read: Kafka Era of Double Standard

11 January 2009

2009-01-06T18:52:00.013Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or Resonancefm.com (worldwide)

"Asked how he proposed dealing with "the murderous mentality" of the Palestinians, the Israeli historian Benny Morris replied, "Something like a cage has to be built for them. I know that sounds terrible. It is really cruel. But there is no choice. There is a wild animal there that has to be locked away one way or another."
Gaza. Two very opposite views from a discussion between two public speakers, Speakers Corner, London 04 January 2009.

Read: Robert Fisk's article
Read: The Gaza Bloodbath

04 January 2009

2009-01-02T18:47:00.003Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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Sounds from Agadir and Marrakech, Morocco. The recording was made between 19 and 24 December 2008. Listen to the show.

07 December 2008

2008-12-04T23:42:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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Pakistan may be the linchpin of the US's so-called war on terror, but it is also, as Tariq Ali notes, a wrecked country. Pakistan's neighbor Afghanistan is also devastated; the continuing war there makes meaningful recovery impossible. In a recent talk, Ali addressed key developments in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, often dictated by US geopolitical interests. Tariq Ali's recent book is The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power (Scribner, 2008). The talk was given in Vancouver, on 10th November 2008. The talk was broadcast by Against the Grain show on KPFA Radio, Berkeley, US.
Listen to the programme

30 November 2008

2008-11-17T16:33:00.011Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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A leading review of the Crusades on Amazon.com says the following: “The Christian invaders were regarded as infidels. The Arabs were scorned as lawless pagans. The Westerners saw their quest as literally a sanctified crusade, while the Muslims launched their own holy war, called a jihad, in retaliation. Sound familiar? It should, because although the events depicted in the History Channel's documentary "The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross" took place nearly a thousand years ago, they are but a distant mirror to what's going on in the Middle East right now.” The Crusades: Were they religious wars? Many Muslims believe that the Crusades continue today and see the "war on terror" as a "Crusade against Islam." We listen to views by Yunus Bakhsh, writer and union activist, John Heelan of the Street Evangelists Association, Tariq Ali, author of "The Blood of Saladin", Professor Jonathan Riley Smith of Cambridge University, and Professor Konrad Hirschler of the School of Oriental and African Studies,

Music by Naseer Shamma, Kamilya Jubran, Rabih Abou Khalil, Anouar Braham.

Listen to the programme

02 November 2008

2008-10-30T16:58:00.003Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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An interview with Joel Beinin, professor of Middle East history at Stanford University (USA) and a member of the editorial committee of Middle East Report online. Beinin has been Director of Middle East Studies and Professor of History at the American University in Cairo. He is author of "Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954," a study that examines the role of trade unionism and the working class in the development of Egyptian nationalism during the first half of the 20th century, and "Workers and Peasants in the Modern Middle East".
Listen to the programme

26 October 2008

2008-10-25T11:39:00.005Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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The Arab Communist Movement, featuring the views of Tareq Ismael, author of 5 books on the subject, and Hussam Al-Hamalawy, blogger, journalist and socialist activist from Egypt.
Dissection of "The Unwinnable War in Afghanistan."

05 October 2008

2008-10-02T23:41:00.007Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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Iran: 30 Years of an Unfinished Revolution. As a process the Iranian revolution started in early 1977 when civil rights groups and lawyers demanded more freedom. But the spark that ignited the big explosion took place on 8 September 1978 (Black Friday) when troops killed thousands of demonstrators in Tehran. In reply, the workers went on strike. What has been achieved after thirty years and where is Iran going? Asef Bayat, Director of the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World and Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and author of Workers and Revolution in Iran, Work, Politics and Power, and Street Politics, in a talk entitled Iran - The Unfinished Revolution. The talk was organised by The Middle East Institute and School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 07 April 2008
Watch here

28 September 2008

2008-10-02T23:11:00.000Z

Iraq: Five Years On. (A repeat)

14 September 2008

2008-09-08T16:16:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
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Obituary: Randa Chahal Sabbag, a film-maker.
Interview with Jeff Halper (a repeat)

07 September 2008

2008-09-05T10:48:00.004Z

Sunday between noon and 1pm on 104.4 FM (London)
Or http://www.resonancefm.com/ (worldwide)

“Iraq under occupation: Raed Jarrar decodes the misinformation" is a talk by an Iraqi architect, blogger, and activist resident in the United States. Raed Jarrar is currently the Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee. Jarrar was born and raised in Baghdad, and is half Iraqi and half Palestinian. The talk was given on the 23rd of May of this year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.