Scholar Assal Rad and Veterans for Peace members Matt Hoh and Barry Riesch react to Iran's retaliatory strike on Israel, Israel's continued genocidal attack on Gaza and predict what's next. Matt and Barry also discuss the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) which will sail in mid April with multiple vessels, carrying 5500 tons of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international human rights observers to challenge the ongoing illegal Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Assal Rad is a scholar of Middle East history. She works on research and writing related to U.S. foreign policy issues, the Middle East, and contemporary Iran. Her writing can be seen in Newsweek, The National Interest, The Independent, Foreign Policy and more, and she has appeared as a commentator on BBC World, Al Jazeera, CNN, and NPR. She completed a PhD in History from the University of California, Irvine in 2018 and is the author of The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Follow Assal on X/Twitter: @AssalRad (https://twitter.com/AssalRad)

Matthew Hoh (https://twitter.com/Matthewphoh) is a disabled Marine combat veteran for peace and a senior fellow with the Center for International Policy. In 2009, he resigned from his position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest of the escalation of the war. He ran as a Green Party candidate for the US Senate to represent the people of North Carolina in 2022.

Barry Riesch is a retired carpenter and building inspector. He is also a Vietnam veteran, former national president of Veterans For Peace, and has been active in the anti-war movement in the Twin Cities and beyond for over thirty years. Engaging in this work, he has participated in delegations to Vietnam, South Korea, Cuba, and Mexico. As an environmental activist, he focuses on how the military is contributing to climate change. It is a life goal of his to leave the world a better place.

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