FEATURING ELON GLICKMAN – For nearly 20 years an organization called Taglit Birthright has been sending young Jews from around the world to Israel for an all-expenses paid trip during which the participants are given a carefully curated view of Israel. But now, a new movement has emerged urging the program to tell the truth about Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.

A number of Birthright participants made headlines recently when they had high-profile confrontations during their trips and left their scripted tours to visit Palestinians whose homes had been destroyed by Israelis. Among them is my guest Elon Glickman whose videotaped questioning of the Birthright maps of Israel has gone viral.

For more information visit https://ifnotnowmovement.org.

Elon Glickman, active member of If Not Now, a Los Angeles born Jewish American who participated in the free Birthright trip to Israel where he was one of several people who walked off the trip in protest of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

**This segment was originally broadcast on July 25, 2018.

FEATURING NATHAN BOMEY – President Trump cannot understand why there is so much bad news about him on Google and has decided to take the Internet search engine to task over it. He complained bitterly on Twitter that, “Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media,” and that “Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good.”

The White House is now apparently investigating whether Google is indeed manipulating search results. Google representatives responded saying, “We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.”

The intersection of Internet-based information and electoral politics has created earth-shaking changes in the US and even other nations where our beliefs are constantly shaped by tech companies interested more in money than truth or justice.

Nathan Bomey, award winning business reporter for USA Today, and the author of Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back. He worked for the Detroit Free Press and his new book is called After the Fact: The Erosion of Truth and the Inevitable Rise of Donald Trump. Follow his work on Twitter @NathanBomey.

**This interview was originally broadcast on September 12, 2018.

FEATURING CHRIS HEDGES – “Hard as it may be for a state so framed to be shaken, yet, since all that comes into being must decay, even a fabric like this will not endure for- ever, but will suffer dissolution.” That’s a quote from Plato’s The Republic and it is what Chris Hedges opens his new book with. America, The Farewell Tour, is a survey of contemporary American ills such as unemployment, industrial blight, opioid addiction, as well as racism, sexism, and other forms of hate.

The book is based on Hedges’ travels through various parts of the US that often remain invisible from mainstream media coverage and therefore our national psyche. In America, The Farewell Tour Hedges explains our myriad societal ills as hallmarks of a dying empire.

Chris Hedges, Pulitzer prize winning journalist, veteran foreign correspondent and author of numerous best-selling books including War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Death of the Liberal Class, Empire of Illusion, and Days of Destruction Days of Revolt with Joe Sacco. His latest book is called America, The Farewell Tour.

**This interview was originally broadcast on September 14, 2018.

FEATURING NATHAN SCHNEIDER – The US economy is booming – for the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Stocks are strong, tax reform has funneled more money into wealthy pockets, and in general wealth is safely stored in the hands of fewer Americans than ever before.

The rest of us – we’re not doing so well. We’re expected to do contract work, find ways to get by in the so-called “gig economy,” and blame only ourselves when we can’t make ends meet.

But increasingly Americans have realized there is value in cooperation, sharing, and solidarity. The idea of cooperatives to share the work and the wealth is an old one that surges in popularity during times of economic crisis.

Nathan Schneider, journalist and professor of Media Studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He has written for numerous publications including The Nation, The New Republic, New York Times and Catholic Worker. His new book is called Everything For Everyone: The Radical Tradition That is Shaping the Next Economy.

 

**This interview was originally broadcast on November 25, 2018.

FEATURING KANI XULAM – The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday morning that the US military is preparing for a complete withdrawal of US forces from Syria. The only indication that Trump gave on this surprise announcement was a cryptic tweet on Wednesday morning saying, “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.” The Wall Street Journal gave another explanation for US withdrawal from Syria saying, “The move follows a call last week between Mr. Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has threatened to launch an assault on America’s Kurdish partners in Syria.”

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced in a strongly worded statement that the US withdrawal would only lead to resurgence in ISIS forces and destabilize the region. The group said, “The war against terrorism has not ended and (the Islamic State group) has not been defeated,” and that, “The decision to pull out under these circumstances will lead to a state of instability and create a political and military void in the region and leave its people between the claws of enemy forces.” Russian President Vladimir Putin however, welcomed the news of US withdrawal saying, “Donald’s right, and I agree with him.” Russia has been Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s strongest ally in a brutal war for years now, and routinely carries out bombing raids in the country. A day after Trump’s announcement on Syria, Gen. James Mattis turned in his resignation as Defense Secretary, apparently over the withdrawal.

Kani Xulam, Director of the American Kurdish Information Network.

FEATURING ARELENE INOUYE – Los Angeles teachers are readying themselves for a strike on January 10th. The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) has announced that after nearly 2 years of efforts at reaching agreement on a new contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District, teachers are fed up. School Superintendent Austin Beutner has made an offer of a salary increase but UTLA officials insist that their fight is about much more than salary increases, and involves reducing class sizes, hiring more support staff, and more. In particular the union is pushing hard against the expansion of charter schools.

On Saturday December 15th, thousands of teachers and union organizers marched in Downtown LA to highlight their strength and gear up for a strike if their demands are not met. They dressed in red – much like teachers protesting similar issues in other parts of the nation over the past year.

Arlene Inouye, long-time union organizer, currently serving as Secretary of the United Teachers of Los Angeles.

FEATURING GAN GOLAN – The beloved children’s book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown has delighted generations of children and parents. But ten years ago authors Erich Origen and Gan Golan parodied the George W. Bush administration in children’s book form called Goodnight Bush. Now, we should perhaps not be surprised that the pair has published a new parody in the same vein called Goodnight Trump.

In December a group of activists gathered at the Trump Tower in New York for a ‘guerilla book reading’ of ‘Goodnight Trump’ while a visibly angry Eric Trump stood by and looked on.

Gan Golan, New York Times Bestselling Author, Artist & Agitator. His books include the bestselling children’s book parody Goodnight Bush, and the graphic novel about the economic crisis, The Adventures of Unemployed Man. His latest book is ‘Goodnight Trump, co-authored with Erich Origen’.

Washington DC was shaken on Thursday with the news that Defense Secretary James Mattis had announced his resignation. Mattis will be leaving at the end of next February over differences with the President on foreign policy. An unnamed official told Associated Press that, “Mattis went to the White House with his resignation letter in hand to meet with the president and spoke to Trump for about 45 minutes…There was no confrontation between the two men, the official said, and there was no one issue that caused the resignation. However, the official said, Syria likely was the last straw for Mattis.” The President earlier this week announced that the US would withdraw all troops from Syria.

Mattis’ resignation letter was made public and in it he said, “we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.” He singled out some nations saying, “It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model.” And finally explained to Trump, “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

The reactions from members of both parties to Mattis’s resignation has been one of alarm and dismay. Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted, “Just read Gen. Mattis resignation letter. It makes it abundantly clear that we are headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation, damage our alliances & empower our adversaries.” Ohio Governor John Kasich tweeted, “This chaos, both foreign and domestic, is putting America in danger and must stop immediately.” Former CIA Director Leon Panetta responded on CNN saying, “The last damn thing we need is more chaos and crisis…This is a President who operates somehow by his gut instinct and how he reads the politics of the moment…He enjoys chaos…but a steady diet of chaos creates hell for the American people.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to reporters late on Thursday about Mattis’ resignation. 

Meanwhile Trump also directed a major military withdrawal from Afghanistan, ordering the Pentagon to bring home nearly half of all troops serving there. His position in that nation, where the US is fighting its longest official war, is an about-face from his posture last year where he increased troop numbers. Under Trump the US has escalated the war in Afghanistan, dropping more bombs and killing more civilians than at any time since the early years of the war. The US is currently in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban and some military analysts fear that a withdrawal would undermine the efforts of diplomats. However, US representatives have been in talks with Taliban leaders many times over the years with little success.

In other news, Trump appears to be blowing up the world of domestic policy as well with his newly invigorated demand for border wall funding,

FEATURING NEGIN OWLIAEI – Outgoing Republican Congressman Paul Ryan gave his last speech as House Speaker on Wednesday. Ryan expressed regret in failing to gut Social Security and Medicare – programs he refers to as “entitlements.” He said, “I acknowledge plainly that my ambitions for entitlement reform have outpaced the political reality, and I consider this our greatest unfinished business.”

Meanwhile the Trump administration on Thursday announced restrictions on food stamps via a rule change, after Congress passed a Farm Bill days ago that did not include cuts. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to about 12% of the US population, or 40 million Americans.

Negin Owliaei, researcher and editor at Inequality.org. She previously worked as a journalist and digital producer at Al Jazeera Media Network.

FEATURING MIRIAM ROLLIN – The Trump White House on Tuesday released a report on school safety that was commissioned in the aftermath of the 2017 Parkland, Florida massacre. Shockingly the report downplays the role of guns in gun-related school violence. Instead it focuses on undoing disciplinary policies that were enacted under Obama – policies that protected students from racial and other forms of discrimination. The school safety commission also argued – much like the President and the NRA have publicly done – that arming teachers as first responders to an active shooter is a good option.

The commission was headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who just a few weeks ago enacted a set of guidelines to rewrite Title IX protections. The new rules on how schools should handle sexual misconduct claims eases the liabilities of schools over the rights of victims.

Find more at www.edrights.org.

Miriam Rollin, Director of Education Civil Rights Alliance at the National Center for Youth Law.