The U.S. and Israel are quickly escalating the conflict in the Middle East. On December 31st, the Navy sank three Yemeni boats in the Red Sea. 10 Yemenis were killed in this attack. The boats were part of the Yemeni Armed Forces grouping that have been preventing passage of Israeli ships, or those heading to Israeli ports, through the Red Sea. While the Yemeni Armed Forces have been largely successful in this mission, they have not caused any casualties on the ships that they are redirecting, making this provocation by the US even more egregious.

In Lebanon on January 2nd, the IDF attacked Beirut, killing the Deputy Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri. In response, Hamas has suspended its negotiations with Israel. This follows the Christmas Day killing of Commander Reza Mousavi of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Damascus, Syria.

To put all of this into context and make sense of the quickly-shifting landscape, we’re happy to welcome Nicole Roussell to the show. Nicole is a producer at The Socialist Program.

Learn more about the January 13th March for Gaza in Washington, DC at march4gaza.org

Support the show