Date:

May 7, 2008   

Dr. Jess Ghannam
Palestinian-American Doctor; Professor at both UCSF and SFSU; human rights activist; member of the international executive committee of Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition; board member of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program; and former president of the San Francisco chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Topic:

The 60^th anniversary of Al-Nakba (the 1948 catastrophe), when Israel forced nearly one million Palestinians out of their homes, massacred hundreds of Palestinians, destroyed hundreds of their  villages and towns, and declared the creation of the State of Israel. Dr. Ghannam is the son of Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes when Israel was established 60 years ago.  We will talk with him about Al-Nakba, and the Right of Return.

Date:

April 30, 2008   

Joshua Landis
Director of the Center for Peace Studies at the University of Oklahoma and Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the School of International and Area Studies; author of numerous articles and the forthcoming book "Democracy in Syria", who also writes the weblog “SyriaComment.com”.

Topics:

The allegations by the U.S. government and Israel that Syria was building a nuclear reactor (the site Israel bombed in September), and the recent talk about a possible Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights (occupied by Israel since 1967).

Date:

April 23, 2008   

Sydney Levy
Longtime Human Rights Professional and Activist, and Director of Campaigns and Chapters for Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the largest grassroots Jewish peace organizations in the U.S. He is a key strategist on the Caterpillar campaign, and Program Director at Media Alliance. He lived in Jerusalem and has a Masters degree in Jewish History from the Hebrew University.

Topics:

President Jimmy Carter's recent visit to the Middle East and his meetings with Hamas Leaders and the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.  We will also talk about the dire situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli measures; and Sydney's participation in the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (currently being held in Fort Worth, Texas to make policy decisions for the 11.5 million-member denomination) in order to consider a number of resolutions dealing with divestment from Israel.

Date:

April 16, 2008   

Laila Al-Arian
The daughter of Dr. Sami Al-Arian; a freelance journalist based in New York; author, with Chris Hedges, of the forthcoming Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (Nation Books), based on their 2007 Nation article "The Other War."  Laila has worked for USA Today and has written for various media outlets.

 
Laila's father, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, is a Palestinian-American Professor, an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights and a persistent defender of civil and constitutional rights in the USA, who was arrested by the U.S. Government in 2003 on charges of "terrorism" in which he was acquitted, but remains in jail since then.

A discussion with Laila Al-Arian about her father's (Dr. Sami Al-Arian) case and his current situation as he enters his seventh week of hunger strike while being held in punitive conditions, denied medical monitoring and forced to endure the harsh environment of the segregation unit of the detention center.

"USA vs Al-Arian" Film in Houston
The film “USA vs Al-Arian” is an intimate portrait that documents the American-Muslim family of Sami Al-Arian in their desperate attempt to fight terrorism charges leveled by the U.S. government.
 
The film will be shown at Rice Cinema at Rice University on April 26 at 7 p.m.  Click here for more information.

Date:

April 9, 2008   

Dr. Catherine Lutz
Professor of anthropology at Brown University and the Watson Institute for International Studies.  She is editor of the forthcoming book "The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle against U.S. Military Posts", and author of the book "Local Democracy Under Siege: Activism, Public Interests, and Private Politics".

Topic:

U.S. military basis in Iraq and the planned long-term agreement between the U.S. and Iraq for a continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Date:

April 2, 2008   

Topic:

Blood, Freedom and Oil: 5 Years in Iraq

A special report produced by Making Contact (a weekly international radio program).  Whether one considers it a war, an occupation, an act of pre-emptive self defense, or an act of imperialist aggression, the undeniable fact is that along with September 11^th, the conflict in Iraq has become the defining event of our time.

Featuring:

Huda Jabbar Mohammed Ali and Omar, Iraqi civilians; Antonia Juhasz, author of The Bush Agenda, and The Tyranny of Oil: The Worlds Most Powerful Industry and What We Must Do To Stop It; Berkeley High School students Lauren Barkin and Matt Rothstark; Beverly Harris, former US Navy Corpsman; Wendy Kenin, Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission; Daniel Nordstrom, former Marine; Protesters outside Berkeley City Hall: Elaine Green, Julie Dickenson, Bill Raskin, Kristen Robrock; Betsy Rose, Code Pink member; Charles Smith, US Army veteran.

Speeches made at the 6^th Biennial Ben Qurrah Award Gala held by the Houston Chapter of the Arab American Medical Association in February 2008 to honor Arab-American physicians who have made remarkable contributions in the field of medicine and who have succeeded in the worldwide advancement of science.

Dr. Elias Zerhouni
Arab-American medical doctor (born in Algeria), Director of the National Institutes of Health, world-renowned physician, and National Honoree of the prestigious 2008 Ben Qurrah Award.

Dr. Issam Raad
Arab-American medical doctor (born in Lebanon), Professor and Chair, Department of Infectious Diseases, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, world-renowned physician, and Houston Honoree of the prestigious 2008 Ben Qurrah Award.

In addition, a Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Saleh Shenaq’s family in memoriam. Mr. Monzer Hourani, a prominent Arab-American engineer and a leading medical real estate developer, was also recognized as the Honorary Chair.
 
We will also listen to remarks made by Dr. Nicola Hanania, President of the Arab American Medical Association Houston Chapter, Dr. Aziz Shaibani,  Awards Chair, Dr. Huda Zoghbi, Dr. George Nassar and Mistress of Ceremonies Melissa Wilson with Fox 26 Television.

Aaron Glantz
Founding producer of Pacifica Radio’s national newscast, Free Speech Radio News; author of How America Lost Iraq; who visited Iraq three times during the U.S. occupation.

Domingo Rosas
Combat veteran and Sergeant with the U.S. Army deployed with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Al-Anbar Province in Iraq.

Mike Prysner
Veteran soldier with the U.S. Army who served in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division and later with the 173rd Airborne Brigade deployed in northern Iraq.

Live discussion with Aaron Glantz about the fifth anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and testimonies of Mike Prysner and Domingo Rosas at the historic Winter Soldier 2008 Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupation held in Washington, DC few days ago about torture, abuse, mishandling and mutilation of the dead, and other derogatory treatment of Iraqi civilians.

Sergeant Samuel Provance
Abu Ghraib Whistleblower and former U.S. Army Sergeant specializing in intelligence analysis, who was stationed for five months at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the abuses reported there.

Sergeant Provance's account of what he witnessed while serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army, especially at Abu Ghraib, and a discussion about President George W. Bush's veto on Saturday of the Intelligence Authorization Bill introduced by Congress which would have banned torture of prisoners and detainees.

Amjad Shawa
Palestinian Advocate and Coordinator for the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization Network in Gaza City (an umbrella organization comprising 100 member organizations).

Mr. Shawa will be talking to us from Gaza City about the deadly Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that left over 500 Palestinians killed and injured (including many children, infants and women) and major destruction in just one week.
 

Membership Drive

Sam Husseini
Communications Director for the Institute for Public Accuracy, whose articles on politics, foreign affairs, public policy, media, and pop culture have been published in numerous outlets. Prior to joining IPA, Husseini was media director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

The Presidential Elections in the U.S. as we approach the Texas Presidential Primary set for March 4 (voting, issues, foreign policy, media coverage, Ralph Nader's announcement, and much more).
 

Membership Drive

Membership Drive

Dr. Donny George Youkhanna
Former Director of the National Museum in Baghdad, former Director General of Iraqi Museums and Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, book author, and visiting professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University.

The state of museums and archaeological sites in Iraq after they were looted of some of the most ancient artifacts in human history following the US occupation of Iraq, and the efforts led by Dr. Youkhanna (described as “the man who saved the Iraq National Museum) to recover almost half of the 15,000 Mesopotamian artworks and artifacts that date back to as much as 6,000 years.
 
Note:  Dr. Donny George Youkhanna will be in Houston on Thursday, February 14 speaking at the University of Houston. Click here for more information.

Raed Jarrar
Iraq Project Director for Global Exchange, an Iraqi analyst and contributing writer for Foreign Policy in Focus, member of the steering committee of the NY-based coalition United For Peace and Justice, Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee, and an Iraqi blogger and architect who lived in Iraq through the U.S.-led invasion.

The current situation in occupied Iraq, and President Bush's declaration last week that he has the power to bypass four laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds to establish permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, that Congress passed as part of a new defense bill.

Dr. Mounzer Sleiman
National security affairs expert based in Washington, D.C.; an independent senior political-military analyst; Washington bureau chief for Almustaqbal Alarabi magazine; and founding member and vice chair of The National Council of Arab Americans.

Mohammad Omar
Reporter for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; freelance photographer and journalist; recipient of the best Ethnic Media Award issued by New America Media in Washington, D.C., who lives in Gaza.

A discussion with Mohammad Omar who is in Gaza about the latest humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip after Israel stopped delivering fuel, medicine and food.
 
Interviews with several protesters who attended the emergency demonstration held in Houston over the weekend calling for an end to the siege on Gaza.
 
Interview with Dr. Mounzer Sleiman about the U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East and its recent efforts to block the U.N. Security Council from issuing any statements regarding the siege on Gaza. We will also talk about President Bush's State of the Union Speech with regards to the Middle East.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
Member of the Palestinian Parliament, co-founder and Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, activist, former candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority, founder and president of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, who lives in Ramallah.

Uri Avnery
Israeli Peace activist, journalist, writer;  former member of the Israeli Knesset (three terms); founding member of Gush Shalom (Israeli peace bloc); former publisher and editor-in-chief of Haolam Hazeh news magazine; founding member of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, who lives in Tel Aviv.

Dr. Mona El-Farra
Palestinian physician, women's rights activist, educator, mother, internationally-recognized human rights leader, vice president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society; and Director of Gaza projects for the California-based Middle East Children's Alliance, who lives in Gaza.

The dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip because of the latest Israeli war crimes of killing Palestinians, the use of  F-16 war planes to bomb the Gaza Strip, cutting off electricity, food and medicine from the one-and-a-half million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

Khalil Jahshan
Executive Director of Pepperdine University Seaver College’s Internship Program; Lecturer in International Studies and Languages; Middle East consultant, and a frequent lecturer before foreign policy panels, academic groups, think tanks, and community gatherings on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestine problem, Israeli politics, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

The boiling crisis in the Middle East with the escalation of Israeli daily attacks on the Palestinians and Tuesday's massacre in Gaza, the escalation of warnings towards Iran by the U.S., and the ongoing occupation of Iraq... while President Bush tours the Middle East and talks about peace!

Dr. Stephen Zunes
Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco; an advisory committee member and Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project; author of numerous articles on Middle Eastern politics, U.S. foreign policy, international terrorism, social movements, and human rights; who has made frequent visits to the Middle East and other conflict regions.

Norman Solomon
Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, longtime media critic, nationally syndicated columnist on media and politics, senior advisor to the National Radio Project, and author of many books, including "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death", "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You", and the most recent book "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State".

A discussion about the main events of 2007 that affected the Middle East such as the ongoing occupation of Iraq and Palestine, and the U.S. Foreign Policy towards the Middle East, Pakistan, Iran, and much more