Date:

December 27, 2017

"Jerusalem: Communities Leading Change" by Fayrouz Sharqawi
The Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. held an event titled "Jerusalem: Communities Leading Change" on November 7, 2017. The guest speaker was Fayrouz Sharqawi, Advocacy Director at Grassroots Jerusalem. In her talk, Fayrouz explains the specific and unique political reality that Palestinians face in the city of Jerusalem. She discusses the recent movement for Al Aqsa and the necessity of organizations like Grassroots Jerusalem to build a cohesive political platform through which Jerusalemites can voice their demands and bring attention to the indigenous and independent Palestinian economy outside of the international aid and NGO system.
  
Today, on Arab Voices, we will listen to that talk and some of the questions and answers that followed.
 
Fayrouz Sharqawi is the Advocacy Director at Grassroots Jerusalem and has a broad and experienced understanding of development and resistance under occupation. Ms. Sharqawi’s tours of the city focus not only on the political reality, but also on the potential that lies in the Palestinian economy in Jerusalem, demonstrating the unity of communities across divides, and attempting to cultivate direct support and solidarity to Palestinian initiatives in Jerusalem.

Date:

December 20, 2017

1st Segment: Issa Amro (in Hebron, occupied Palestine)
Palestinian activist and human rights defender based in Hebron, occupied Palestine. He is the coordinator and co-founder of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. Issa won the 2009 One World Media award for coordinating the B’Tselem camera distribution project, and in 2010, he was declared "human rights defender of the year in Palestine" by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concern for his well-being and safety due to numerous accounts of harassment from Israeli soldiers and settlers and a series of arbitrary arrests. He has spoken at the UN Human Rights Council regular session at three different occasions. Issa was arrested numerous times by the Israeli occupation army, and was indicted by the Israeli military court with 18 charges against him. In May 2017, Bernie Sanders along with 3 U.S. Senators and 32 Congressmen wrote to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to urge Israeli authorities to reconsider the charges against him. In late September, 2017, after being released on bail from Israeli occupation jail, Issa Amro met Bernie Sanders and members of Congress in Washington DC.
  
We will speak with Issa Amro (in Hebron) about the situation in occupied Palestine, the recent kidnapping and jailing of Ahed Tamimi, 16-year-old Palestinian girl along with her mother and other relatives, President Trump's decision on Jerusalem, and much more.
      

2nd Segment: Tarek Abuata
Palestinian Christian born and raised in Bethlehem, occupied Palestine (the birth place of Jesus Christ). He is the Executive Director of FOSNA, Friends of Sabeel North America, a nonprofit Christian ecumenical organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy Land through nonviolent advocacy and education. Tarek was Executive Director at Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, and has also served as Executive Director at Love Thy Neighbor. In addition, he worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT); United Palestine Appeal; Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation; and the Negotiations Support Unit of the Palestinian Authority. Tarek holds a JD from the University of Texas Law School and is licensed to practice law in Texas and DC.
    
We will speak with Tarek about Christians in Palestine and their suffering under the Israeli occupation, the situation there especially as we get closer to Christmas, President Trump's decision on Jerusalem and Christian reaction to it, and much more.

Date:

December 13, 2017

1st Segment: Remarks from Houston's Emergency Rally: Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine
Hundreds of people participated in the "Emergency Rally: Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine" rally that was held in Houston on Saturday, December 9, 2017. It was a protest against President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and his plan to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The rally was organized by several organizations including Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston. Participants marched from the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer to the Water Wall in the Galleria area, and held a candlelight vigil.
 
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to some of the remarks delivered at the rally by individuals and representatives from various organizations.
   

2nd Segment: Zaha Hassan
Middle East Fellow at New America, A human rights lawyer and former coordinator and senior legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership (2010-2012). She is a member of Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, and is a contributor to the Hill and Ha’aretz. Her political commentary and analysis has been published by the New York Times, CNN, Salon, the Oregonian, the Detroit News, and other outlets. She is the former cohost of the Portland, Ore.-based radio show, One Land Many Voices, on KBOO 90.7 FM.
 
We will speak live with Zaha about President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We will talk about the occupation of Jerusalem and the situation there.

Date:

December 6, 2017

1st Segment: Walid Khalidi's Keynote Address on Jerusalem at the United Nations
World-renowned Palestinian historian and Scholar (born in Jerusalem); General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies; and author of numerous books and articles.
 
We will listen to professor Khalidi's keynote address on Jerusalem delivered at the UN Headquarters. He gave a historic overview of the history of Jerusalem (including Islam's relationship to its Judaic and Christian antecedents) saying that there had been no conflicts between Islam and Judaism over the city until the advent of Zionism. He also talked about the 1947 UN resolution, and the transformation of the city since its conquest in 1967. Khalidi ends his talk by outlining what he sees as the "pillars" of an honorable and peaceful solution for Jerusalem.

2nd Segment: Ali Abunimah
Co-founder and Executive Director of the award-winning and widely acclaimed publication The Electronic Intifada. Abunimah is a media commentator, an expert on Palestine and the Palestinian-Israeli problem, and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, and One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
 
We will speak live with Ali about President Trump's plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and the impact of such a move.

Date:

November 29, 2017

1st Segment: Abdel Razzaq Takriti on “Arab Traditions of Anti-Sectarianism" Conference

We will speak with Abdel Razzaq Takriti, Associate Professor & Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History at the University of Houston about the upcoming “Arab Traditions of Anti-Sectarianism" conference that will take place Friday and Saturday, December 1st and 2nd at Rice University and the University of Houston.
  

2nd Segment: "Viewing Israel-Palestine Through the Lens of Settler-Colonialism" by Ilan Pappé
   
We will air today a speech titled "Viewing Israel-Palestine Through the Lens of Settler-Colonialism" by Ilan Pappé, Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, and author of several books. In that speech, delivered at the Israel Lobby And American Policy Conference held earlier this year in Washington, D.C., Pappé discusses the value of viewing Israel-Palestine through the lens of settler-colonialism, how Zionist myths have been shaped and/or perpetuated by the Israel lobby, and what framework is necessary to overcome these myths and ensure that efforts to resolve the "conflict" are grounded in reality.
 
NOTE: Ilan Pappé will be in Houston speaking at the University of Houston on Thursday, November 30, 2017 on the topic "Black November: The Role of Partition in Palestine's History and Destiny", organized by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston and sponsored by the Palestinian American Cultural Center. See Community Calendar for more details.

Date:

November 22, 2017

Rami Khouri
An internationally syndicated political columnist, book author and professor of journalism. He was the first director, and is now a senior public policy fellow, at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He also serves as a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard University Kennedy School Middle East Initiative. He is editor at large, and former executive editor, of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, and was awarded the Pax Christi International Peace Prize for 2006. He teaches or lectures annually at the American University of Beirut and Northeastern University. He has been a fellow and visiting scholar at Harvard, Mount Holyoke, Princeton, Syracuse, The Fletcher School at Tufts, Northeastern, Denver, Oklahoma and Stanford universities, and is a member of the Brookings Institution Task Force on US Relations with the Islamic World. He is a Fellow of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (Arab East Jerusalem). He also serves on the Joint Advisory Board of the Northwestern University Journalism School in Doha, Qatar, Georgetown University’s Center for Regional and International Studies in Doha, Qatar, and recently completed a four-year term on the International Advisory Council of the International Committee of the Red Cross. He was editor-in-chief of the Jordan Times for seven years and for 18 years was general manager of Al Kutba, Publishers, in Amman, Jordan, where he also served as a consultant to the Jordanian tourism ministry on biblical archaeological sites. He has hosted programs on archaeology, history and current public affairs on Jordan Television and Radio Jordan, and often comments on Mideast issues in the international media. He has a BA and MSc degrees respectively in political science and mass communications from Syracuse University, NY, USA.
  

We will speak live with Rami about the recent internal domestic changes and crackdown in Saudi Arabia (are we witnessing real changes and an end to corruption, or is it about power grab and scare tactics); the surprise resignation announcement of Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri while in Saudi Arabia (on hold after his return to Lebanon); the boycott and blockade on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and others; the catastrophic situation in Yemen as a result of the Saudi-led war on the country; the latest on Syria and what is next; and more.

Date:

November 15, 2017

Date:

November 8, 2017

Date:

November 1, 2017

Alison Weir
Founder and Executive Director of If Americans Knew and President of the Council for the National Interest. She is the author of "Against Our Better Judgment: The hidden history of how the U.S. was used to create Israel". Her essays and articles have appeared in a number of books, magazines, and newspapers; among them The New Intifada, Censored 2005, The Encyclopedia on Israel-Palestine, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, San Francisco Bay View newspaper, CounterPunch, and The Link. Weir speaks widely throughout the country. Since early 2001 she has given hundreds of presentations, including two briefings on Capitol Hill, speeches at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, the National Press Club, and at universities such as Harvard Law School, Columbia, Stanford, UC Berkeley, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Vassar, and the Naval Postgraduate Institute. She has spoken at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, numerous Rotary Clubs, churches, libraries, and other community venues. In addition, she has been invited to give papers at international conferences, including lectures at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur for three straight years. A top level British attendee termed her speech "the most brilliant of the entire conference." In 2004, Weir was inducted into honorary membership of Phi Alpha Literary Society. The award cited her as a: "Courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights. The first woman to receive an honorary membership in Phi Alpha history."
 

Thursday, November 2, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a pledge by Britain's foreign secretary at that time, Arthur Balfour, addressed to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a Zionist leader in the British Jewish community, to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. Today on Arab Voices, we will speak live with Alison Weir about the Balfour Declaration, how did it come about, who wrote it and why, who was behind it, how it got implemented, the connections to the U.S. and World War I, its impact on the Palestinians over the past 100 years, and more!

Date:

October 25, 2017

Dima Khalidi
Founder and Director of Palestine Legal and Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Her work includes providing legal advice to activists, engaging in advocacy to protect their rights to speak out for Palestinian rights, and educating activists and the public about the repression of Palestine advocates. Dima worked with CCR as a cooperating attorney on the Mamilla Cemetery Campaign, drafting a Petition to United Nations officials to act against the desecration of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. She also worked on numerous cases that sought to hold Israeli officials and corporations accountable for Israeli violations of international law, including Belhas v. Ya’alon, Matar et al. v. Dichter and Corrie v. Caterpillar, as well as on CCR’s Guantanamo Bay docket. Prior to studying law, Dima worked at Birzeit University, heading a research project on the role of informal justice mechanisms in the Palestinian legal system. She has advocated on Palestinian rights issues in media forums such as the New York Times, the Jewish Press, The Hill, Huffington Post Live, The Real News Network, Al Jazeera English, Mondoweiss, Huffington Post, Law and Disorder Radio, and Radio Tahrir. She is fluent in Arabic and French. Dima is based in Palestine Legal’s Chicago office, and is admitted to practice law in Illinois.
 

We will speak live with Dima about the anti-BDS laws that have already passed in 22 states in the U.S. including Texas (HB 89), aimed at punishing or suppressing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns for Palestinian freedom. We will talk about the City of Dickinson (south of Houston, Texas) that is requiring applicants for hurricane Harvey rebuilding funds (donated by individuals, not State money) to verify in writing that they will not take part in a boycott of Israel. We will also talk about the federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU on October 11, 2017 challenging a Kansas law on behalf of a high school teacher who is being required by the state to certify that she won’t boycott Israel if she wants to take part in a teacher training program. We will also speak about the constitutionality of these laws and the first amendment, the efforts to counter these anti-BDS laws in the U.S., and what you can do about them.
    
 

Fall Fund Drive

Date:

October 18, 2017

KPFT continues its Fall Fund Drive, and Arab Voices Needs Your Support to raise $2,700. We are offering several "Thank-You" Gifts during this drive including the 3 documentaries/recordings listed below:

• "Ralph Nader: EMPOWERING PEOPLE IN THE TRUMP ERA" DVD

• "All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone" DVD

• "The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in The United States" DVD

Please call 713-526-5738 between 6 pm and 7 pm central time on Wednesday and support your commercial-free community radio station. You can also send email to info@ArabVoices.net with your name and the amount you'd like to pledge. Thank you.
 

Fall Fund Drive

Date:

October 11, 2017

"Ralph Nader: EMPOWERING PEOPLE IN THE TRUMP ERA" - DVD available for $100 contribution
DVD of two talks by Ralph Nader: 1) on the topic of 'Empowering People in Trump Era' based on his latest book 'Breaking Through Power,' given on February 22, 2017 at the University of Laverne (approx. 83 minutes long); 2) 'Ralph Nader In Conversation,' a Scripps Presents event in Claremont on February 21, 2017 (approx. 68 minutes long). The total time is 2:30 hours. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to portions of Nader's talk from the DVD.
 

"All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone" - DVD available for $100 contribution
'All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone' looks at how independent journalists like Amy Goodman, Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Matt Taibbi and others are changing the face of journalism, providing investigative, adversarial alternatives to mainstream, corporate news outlets. The cameras follow as they expose government and corporate deception. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to portions from that documentary/DVD.
 

"The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in The United States" - DVD available for $120 contribution
Israel's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and its repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world — except the United States. "The Occupation of the American Mind" takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading observers of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the film explores how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces, often with very different motives, to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. The Occupation of the American Mind provides a sweeping analysis of Israel's decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people — a battle that has only intensified over the past few years in the face of widening international condemnation of Israel's increasingly right-wing policies. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to an interview we conducted with Professor Sut Jhally, executive producer of the film and also listen to portions of this film documentary/DVD.

Date:

October 4, 2017

1st Segment: The Arrival: Trump’s Travel and Refugee Ban
Making Contact, an award-winning weekly magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 140 radio stations in the USA, Canada, South Africa and Ireland, produced a new segment titled “The Arrival: Trump’s Travel and Refugee Ban”.
 
Leading up to the US Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s travel ban, we’ll hear about the order’s impact on people from affected, Muslim-majority countries, and how advocacy groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations are responding. On this edition of Making Contact we begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban. Special thanks to the Stanford Storytelling Project and State of the Human podcast managing producer, Jake Warga.
 
Featuring:
• Nisrin Abdelrahman, Stanford PhD Student in Anthropology
• Zahar Billo, Civil Rights Attorney and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
    
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to “The Arrival: Trump’s Travel and Refugee Ban” segment.
  

2nd Segment: Dr. Ahmad Tibi's Remarks at the ADC Convention
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage in the USA, held its 37th National Convention on September 22-24, 2017 in Washington, D.C. There were many dynamic and engaging sessions, including a Community Empowerment Luncheon with Arab-American Congressional Candidates, discussions on Charlottesville and the Reemergence of White Supremacy, Criminalization of Race, and the Arab and Muslim Ban. There was a session exploring One State or Two State Solution – What’s Best for the Palestinians featuring experts on the subject, and there were several keynote addresses covering different topics including Civil Rights. ADC also honored several individuals who have committed themselves to the advancement of social justice. There was also a special memorial honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Jack Shaheen.
 
At the September 24, 2017 Palestine Luncheon and Awards Ceremony, the keynote speaker was Dr. Ahmad Tibi, Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to most of Dr. Tibi's remarks at the ADC Convention.

Date:

September 27, 2017

"The Invention of Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East" by Ussama Makdisi, Ph.D.
The Center for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy held an event titled “The Invention of Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East” on September 20, 2017. The speaker was Ussama Makdisi, Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to that lecture.
   
Professor Makdisi is the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001. His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East, which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa. He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Among his major articles are “Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of Brief History” which appeared in the Journal of American History and “Ottoman Orientalism” and “Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism, and Evangelical Modernity” both of which appeared in the American Historical Review. Professor Makdisi has also published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and in the Middle East Report. Professor Makdisi is now working on a manuscript on the origins of sectarianism in the modern Middle East to be published by the University of California Press. In 2012-2013, Makdisi was an invited Resident Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin). In April 2009, the Carnegie Corporation named Makdisi a 2009 Carnegie Scholar as part of its effort to promote original scholarship regarding Muslim societies and communities, both in the United States and abroad.

Date:

September 20, 2017

Massacres and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State in Myanmar
Today’s show is about the grave humanitarian crisis, violence and ethnic cleansing we are witnessing in the Rakhine State in Myanmar, where brutal killings, shelling, destruction of villages and rape is underway of the Muslim Rohingya minority. Nearly half a million Muslim Rohingya were forced to flee across the border to Bangladesh.
 
We will listen today to statements on that topic from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the country of Bangladesh where nearly half a million Muslim Rohingya are now refugees, and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues
 
We will also listen to several Houstonians who participated in a Silent Protest held in Houston on September 17, 2017 including a Rohingya student living in Houston, and statements from several local organizations including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston).

Date:

September 13, 2017

1st Segment: Dr. Aziz Shaibani
President of the Arab American Educational Foundation, and past president of the National Arab American Medical Association and the Arab American Cultural and Community Center in Houston. He is a member of the “Art of the Islamic Worlds" committee at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and also serves on the advisory board of the Arab American National Museum and is a board member at the Rothko Chapel. Dr. Shaibani is the director of the Nerve and Muscle Center of Texas, a clinical professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and an adjunct professor of neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, American Neurological Association, American College of Physicians, and American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine. He is also president-elect of the Texas Neurological Society. In 2014, he authored the award-winning book “A Video Atlas of Neuromuscular Disorders”. Dr. Shaibani is a regular speaker at local, national and international neurology meetings.
 
We will speak with Dr. Shaibani about the short and long term health impact of Hurricane Harvey; the impact it has made on the health care system in Houston; measures people can take to minimize delayed health effects, and more.
   

2nd Segment: Dr. Emran El-Badawi
Program director and associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Houston. He has published in English as well as Arabic and has contributed to Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor and made dozens of national as well as international media appearances, including for The New York Times, Al-Jazeera and the European ARTE network. Dr. El-Badawi has advised law firms, government, and cultural organizations about matters related to Arabs, Islam and the Middle East. Dr. El-Badawi has received numerous awards for his work and research including honorable acclaim by the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize for his book on The Qur'an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions. Furthermore, his professional management and scholarly projects have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for several organizations. He can be found on Twitter @EmranE.
 
We will speak with Dr. El-Badawi about Houston's diversity, the size of Hurricane Harvey's tragedy and the lesson of how a strong community empowers a city during large tragedies. Dr. El-Badawi will also share stories of Houston Arab-American citizens and businesses saving lives and helping rebuild Houston, and talk about the near future, new initiatives and how you can help.

Date:

September 6, 2017

1st Segment: Dr. Faiza Zalila
We will speak with Dr. Faiza Zalila, President of the Arab American Cultural & Community Center (ACC) in Houston about the Arab American community in Houston and ACC efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, and the drive the ACC launched to collect much needed items to distribute in collaboration with other organizations to victims of Hurricane Harvey.
 

2nd Segment: MJ Khan
We will speak with Mr. MJ Khan, President of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) and former Houston City Council member, about the Muslim American community in Houston and ISGH efforts in the greater Houston area to assist the victims of Hurricane Harvey, and the relief efforts, and opening of mosques as shelters to those in need.
 

3rd Segment: Wafa Abdin
We will speak with Wafa Abdin, Vice President for Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities, where she oversees the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, the largest non-profit provider of immigration legal services for low-income and indigent non-citizens and Refugee Resettlement Program. We will speak with her about President Trump's termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program; the impact of the termination on the nearly 800,000 young immigrants, or “Dreamers,” who came to the USA as children and know the United States as their only home; and what needs to happen next.

Date:

August 30, 2017

Date:

August 23, 2017

David Vine
Associate Professor of Anthropology at the American University in Washington, DC. He is the author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World. David is also the author of Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among others. David is also co-author of The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual or, Notes on Demilitarizing American Society, with the Network for Concerned Anthropologists. David is a contributor to TomDispatch.com and Foreign Policy in Focus.
  

We will speak live with David about his books, U.S. foreign and military policy, U.S. military bases around the world including the Middle East, U.S. involvements with wars in the Middle East, and more.

Date:

August 16, 2017

“Conservation and Sustainability in the Holy Land” by Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
On June 26, 2017, Palestinian Scientist and Professor, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, spoke at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on the topic “Conservation and Sustainability in the Holy Land”. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to his remarks.
  
After graduating from the University of Jordan, Qumsiyeh received his master's degree in evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. in zoology/genetics from Texas Tech University. He completed a clinical cytogenetics fellowship at the University of Tennessee and clinical molecular genetics fellowship at Duke University. Following a prestigious career in cytogenetics in the US, Qumsiyeh returned to Palestine where he has been on the faculty at Bethlehem University and Birzeit University. In 2014, he founded the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University. He continues at PMNH as its director.

Date:

August 9, 2017

No U.S. War Planes Over Syria
On Tuesday, August 8, 2017, a coalition of six organizations (Veterans For Peace, The Nation magazine, RootsAction.org, Watchdog.net, World Beyond War, Daily Kos) held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., calling on the U.S. to remove all military aircrafts from the Syrian airspace. The speakers argued that the U.S. military role in Syria is illegal and immoral and addressed concerns that “global policing” and intervention in Syria is an unwinnable military strategy. The speakers included:
  
John Kiriakou, CIA Whistleblower (he will be speaking in Houston on August 12)
Matthew Hoh, Former State Department official
Christie Edwards, Chair of the ASIL Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict and an advisor to the Center for Civilians in Conflict on international humanitarian, human rights, and gender issues
David Swanson, Author and Director of World Beyond War
Norman Solomon, Co-Founder and Coordinator for RootsAction.org
  
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to the news conference and some of the questions and answers that followed.

Date:

August 2, 2017

Will Picard
Founder and Executive Director of The Yemen Peace Project (YPP). He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Modern Middle East Studies and Southwest Asian Conflict Studies. His senior thesis explored the importance of the Sa‘dah wars in the context of modern Yemeni history. He first visited Yemen in 1999, and has studied Yemeni history and contemporary affairs ever since. Will directs the YPP’s day-to-day operations, manages the organization’s website and Twitter account, writes for the Blog, and hosts the Mafraj Radio podcast.
  

We will speak live with Will Picard about Yemen, the dire situation there and the effects of the current Saudi-led war on Yemen that devastated the country, and the prospects for resolutions and peace in Yemen. We will also talk about the new report "America’s Role in Yemen 2017 and Beyond" produced by YPP about the United States’ involvement in Yemen.
 
According to the United Nations, Yemen is now the largest global humanitarian crisis where 20 million Yemenis, or 70 per cent of the population, require humanitarian assistance, making it the world's largest food security crisis. In addition, the world’s worst cholera outbreak is currently unfolding in Yemen with nearly 400,000 cholera cases have been recorded in recent months.

Date:

July 26, 2017

Maria LaHood's remarks on "Anti-BDS Legislation and the First Amendment"
Deputy Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, with expertise in constitutional rights and international human rights. She works to defend the constitutional rights of Palestinian human rights advocates in the United States. She works closely with Palestine Legal to support students and others whose speech is being suppressed for their Palestine advocacy around the country. She also works on the Right to Heal initiative with Iraqi civil society and Iraq Veterans seeking accountability for the lasting health effects of the Iraq war.
 
We will listen to Maria's speech on “Anti-BDS Legislation and the First Amendment: Recent Legislation that Threatens First Amendment Rights of Palestinian Solidary Activists and the Legal Challenges Thereto”. Her talk was delivered at the "Israel Lobby and American Policy" conference held on March 24th, 2017 at the National Press Club, organized by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
  

Said Arikat
Journalist, author, and political analyst. He is the Washington, DC Bureau Chief for the daily Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds (based in occupied Jerusalem), for which he is a writer, columnist, and analyst. He is an adjunct professor at the American University in Washington, DC where he teaches a course on "The Role of the Media in the Arab World". He also served as spokesman and director of public information for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq from 2005 to 2010.
 
We will speak live with Said Arikat about the situation in occupied Jerusalem where Israel shot and killed several Palestinians and injured more than 1000 over the past few days, and has been attacking and preventing Muslim worshippers from reaching and praying at Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

Date:

July 19, 2017

Dr. Missid Ghanem & Mays Kseibi
Dr. Missid Ghanem is a Psychologist, president of the World Wide Mental Health organization (WWHM) and Director of the new Summer of Hope (SoH) program in Houston.
 
Mays Kseibi is an educational management leader and a multicultural educator with an extensive background knowledge in international student services and academic advising. Mays has a masters in educational management development and currently serves as the Core Curriculum Director of the Summer of Hope (SoH) program in Houston.
 
We will speak with both Dr. Ghanem and Mrs. Kseibi about the new Summer of Hope (SoH) program that provides free English language and life skills training to the Syrian refugee children living in Houston.
   

Wajahat Ali remarks on "Israel Lobby Ties to Islamophobia"
Pro-Israel Organizations, Donors and Islamophobia: Findings from Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America
 
We will listen to the full speech given by Wajahat Ali, journalist, writer, lawyer, an award-winning playwright, and lead author/researcher of “Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America”, discussing the making of Fear Inc. and the Lobby’s role in contributing to Islamophobia at the "Israel Lobby and American Policy" conference held on March 24, 2017 at the National Press Club. The conference was sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).

Date:

July 12, 2017

In Memoriam: Dr. Jack Shaheen
On Sunday, July 9, 2017, Dr. Jack Shaheen, a pioneering Arab-American scholar in the area of media representations of Arabs, an internationally acclaimed scholar, and author, passed away in South Carolina at the age of 81. Dr. Shaheen was a writer and lecturer specializing in addressing racial and ethnic stereotypes. His books include "A is for Arab: Archiving Stereotypes in U.S. Popular Culture", "Guilty: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs After 9/11", and "Reel Bad Arabs", which was later made into a film documentary "How Hollywood Vilifies Arabs!" by Media Education Foundation. His work focused on racism and orientalism, particularly in popular culture such as Hollywood films. He has given over 1,000 lectures on the issue across the United States and on three continents. Dr. Shaheen was also a former CBS News consultant on Middle East affairs, and professor emeritus of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He received two Fulbright teaching awards, and was also the Distinguished Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies.
 
We will listen today to portions of Dr. Shaheen’s talk in the film documentary "How Hollywood Vilifies Arabs!" by Media Education Foundation, and also listen to his talk at the "Israel Lobby and American Policy" conference on March 24, 2017 at the National Press Club, organized by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. He spoke on the topic “Strategies to Successfully Push Back Against Harmful Hollywood Stereotypes About Arabs and Muslims, and the Work New Generations Must Take On”.
   

International Day of Quds
We will also listen to portions of the remarks that were delivered at the International Day of Quds rally that was held in Houston outside the Galleria on June 23, 2017. There were many remarks delivered during the rally, and we will air today portions of the remarks of the Reverend Ronnie Lister, Patrick Higgins, Rabbi Joseph Kohn with Neturei Karta, and Abbas Hamideh, co-founder of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.   

Date:

July 5, 2017

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh - "A Christian Palestinian Scientist from Bethlehem Talks About Conflict Resolution"
Last week, on June 27, 2017, Palestinian Scientist and Professor, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, spoke at the Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston on the topic: "A Christian Palestinian Scientist from Bethlehem Talks About Conflict Resolution". Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to his remarks at the church.
 
After graduating from the University of Jordan, Qumsiyeh received his master's degree in evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. in zoology/genetics from Texas Tech University. He completed a clinical cytogenetics fellowship at the University of Tennessee and clinical molecular genetics fellowship at Duke University. Following a prestigious career in cytogenetics in the US, Qumsiyeh returned to Palestine where he has been on the faculty at Bethlehem University and Birzeit University. In 2014, he founded the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University. He continues at PMNH as its director.

Date:

June 28, 2017

                

Summer Fund Drive

Date:

June 21, 2017

              

Summer Fund Drive

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June 14, 2017

Nawal Abou-Awad
We will speak with Nawal Abou-Awad, PAC Youth Ambassador, about the planned "Know Your Homeland Camp2" organized by the Palestinian American Council (PAC). It is a trip to Palestine from July 15 to July 30, 2017. For more information and/or to register, visit www.pac-usa.org.
   

Congressman Al Green's Houston Iftar Remarks
More than 1,500 people attended the annual Houston Ramadan Iftar Dinner on May 28, 2017. The keynote speaker was Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston. Texas Governor Greg Abbott spoke via a pre-recorded video message, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee also spoke at the event, amongst many others. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to the remarks of Congressman Al Green that he delivered at the event. The event was organized by Abu Dhabi, Baku, Basrah, Istanbul and Karachi Sister City Association along with the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.
  

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's March & Press Conference on Anti-Hate
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a march and a press conference on Sunday, June 11, 2017 at the Mickey Leeland Federal Building in Houston, with members of the Muslim Community, to stand against hate for Islam. It was a counter demonstration to the anti-Muslim marches held the day before across the US including the Houston area by ACT for America, an anti-Islam hate group. The group's founder and chairman, Brigitte Gabriel, believes Arabs “have no soul”, and “every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim” and that a Muslim “cannot be a loyal citizen of the United States”. She also argues that “America is at stage two Islamic Cancer". ACT for America supports anti-Islam legislation and unequal treatment for Muslims. Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to some of the remarks made at the press conference including those of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, HISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones, former Houston City Council member and President of ISGH MJ Khan, Executive Director of CAIR-Houston Mustafaa Carroll, Reverend Sadraque Cius, Muslim Child Yousef, and Imam Majid Siddiqui.

Date:

June 7, 2017

Melvin Goodman
Senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. He was an analyst at the CIA for 24 years; a former analyst at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research; and author of several books on international security, including "National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism" and "Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA". His latest book (just released) is "Whistleblower at the CIA". Goodman has written numerous articles and op-eds over the years, appeared on various media outlets, and has lectured all over the country. He is also the national security columnist for counterpunch.org.
    
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the remaining 22% of Historic Palestine (Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem), the longest enduring military occupation in the world. Today on the show, we will talk about this 50th anniversary (Arab Voices' commentary).
 
We will also speak live with Mr. Melvin Goodman about what he saw during the six-day war in June 1967 while working at the CIA, and the lies Israeli officials at the highest level made to the White House about the start of the six-day war. Mr. Goodman helped draft the report that described Israel’s attack against Egypt on the morning of June 5, 1967. In a new piece he just published, The Six Day War and Israeli Lies: What I Saw at the CIA, he says "There were sensitive communications intercepts that documented Israeli preparations for an attack, and no evidence of an Egyptian battle plan. The Israelis had been clamoring about indications of Egyptian preparations for an invasion, but we had no sign of Egyptian readiness in terms of its air or armored power. The assumption was that the Israelis were engaging in disinformation in order to gain U.S. support.".
 
We will also speak with Mr. Goodman about his new book "Whistleblower at the CIA: An Insider’s Account of the Politics of Intelligence" (City Lights Publishers, 2017).

Date:

May 31, 2017

Arab Barghouti
We will speak live with Arab Barghouti, son of the Palestinian leader, parliamentarian, and political prisoner, Marwan Barghouti (who is being held in Israeli jails for more than 15 years and recently led the massive hunger strike that lasted 40 days). We will speak with Arab about the Palestinian political prisoners' hunger strike, its importance and the fight for dignity for all Palestinians. We will also speak with him about his dad, Marwan Barghouti, and more.
  
 
Houston Stands with Palestinian Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Houston organized a protest on Thursday, May 25, 2017 in front of the Israeli consulate in Houston in solidarity with more than 1500 Palestinian political prisoners that were on hunger strike that lasted 40 days to protest Israel's inhumane treatment of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners. The protesters also participated in the global #SaltWaterChallenge that was launched by Arab Barghouti, son of the Palestinian leader and political prisoner Marwan Barghouti, in support of the demands of the Palestinian political prisoners.
     
Today on Arab Voices, we will hear the remarks of several local Houstonians who participated in the protest including the remarks of the Reverend Ronnie Lister.

Date:

May 24, 2017

1st Segment: Zaha Hassan
Human rights attorney, Middle East Fellow at New America, and former coordinator and senior legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership from 2010-2012. As a New America fellow, she will complete a novel, Die Standing Like Trees, which deals with a Palestinian-American woman’s search for answers twenty years after her mother’s violent death during the height of the Oslo peace talks. Zaha received her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, an LLM in transnational & international law from Willamette University, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in Seattle with a B.A. in political science and Near East languages and civilizations. She has been co-host for the last two years of the Portland, Oregon radio show, One Land Many Voices, on KBOO 90.7 FM and is a contributor to the online magazine, The Civil Arab.
  
We will speak live with Zaha about President Trump's visit to occupied Palestine, the ongoing (37 days and counting) Palestinian Political Prisoner's Hunger Strike, and more.
 
Please note there will be a protest "Houston Stands with Palestinian Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike" this Thursday, May 25, 2017, in front of the Consulate General of Israel in Houston organized by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston. Click here for more details.
       

2nd Segment: Sahar Aziz
Professor of law at Texas A&M University School of Law where she teaches courses on national security, civil rights, and Middle East law. She also serves as a Nonresident Fellow at Brookings Doha Center. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Professor Aziz served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where she worked on law and policy at the intersection of national security and civil liberties. Her academic articles have been published in the Harvard National Security Journal, George Washington International Law Review, Penn State Law Review, and the Texas Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Journal. In 2015, Professor Aziz was named an Emerging Scholar by Diverse Issues in Higher Education and received the Derrick Bell Award from the American Association of Law Schools Minority Group Section. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post and the Race and the Law Profs blog. She also serves on the board of the ACLU of Texas. Professor Aziz earned a J.D. and M.A. in Middle East Studies from the University of Texas where she served as an associate editor of the Texas Law Review.
 
We will speak live with Sahar about President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia. Sahar published oped on CNN titled "Trump's Doublespeak in Saudi Arabia", in which she says "If there's one thing we've learned about Donald Trump, it is that he has no qualms about contradicting himself to get what he wants. In Saudi Arabia, he wanted a $110 billion arms deal -- not to promote peace and tolerance, as he later proclaimed in his Sunday speech. Thus, his speech will not "be remembered as the beginning of peace in the Middle East," as he loftily put it, but rather a boost to the war that is ravaging it. Nor will Trump's speech put an end to the Islamophobia and bigotry that he has spent the past two years inciting. After all, he needs scapegoats to blame when the terrorism in the Middle East inevitably reaches the United States.".

Date:

May 17, 2017

"Israel's Politics of Fear and the Palestinians" by Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
The Arab-American Educational Foundation Lecture Fund and the History Department at Rice University sponsored a talk titled "Israel's Politics of Fear and the Palestinians" on April 4, 2017, at Rice University with guest speaker Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian from Jerusalem.
 
The talk was based on Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian's newly published book about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict entitled Security Theology, Surveillance and the Politics of Fear. By drawing attention to violence against Palestinians, and by pointing to legal, symbolic and material means of dehumanization, Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian explores the production of racialized and violent forms of surveillance and fear that results in human suffering. In connecting the structures of Israeli power with the invisible and mundane lives of the colonized Palestinian people, the talk shares data, including photos, videos, and relevant laws, to show how the personal has become profoundly politicized. Moving from the dead to the newborn, from the graveyard to the womb, from the attack on home to homeland, Shalhoub-Kevorkian discusses the way in which intimate agonies are political sites of colonial governance. Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian is the Lawrence D. Biele Chair in Law at the Faculty of Law-Institute of Criminology and the School of Social Work and Public Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian's lecture on "Israel's Politics of Fear and the Palestinians".

Date:

May 10, 2017

1st Segment: Dr. Faiza Zalila
We will speak live with Dr. Faiza Zalila, President of the Arab American Cultural & Community Center (ACC) in Houston about the center, and the new community-wide needs assessment survey the ACC is conducting to obtain feedback from the community and constituents, Arabs and friends of Arabs, about social service needs and cultural programs you want to see offered at the ACC Center, as the ACC is looking to align its services and programs with the community needs and interests in order to better serve the community. We will also talk about the upcoming free Family Health Fair for the community at large, to be held Saturday, May 13th, where the ACC in partnership with other organizations will be offering free screening of vital health signs, vision, cholesterol, blood pressure, fitness tests, in addition to smoking cessation, mental health counseling, dental exams, and much more.
    

2nd Segment: Mustafaa Carroll
We will speak live with Mustafaa Carroll, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) about the new civil rights report titled "The Empowerment of Hate" released yesterday, May 9, 2017, by CAIR documenting a spike in Anti-Muslim bias incidents. The report reveals a 57 percent increase in 2016 anti-Muslim bias incidents over 2015. This was accompanied by a 44 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the same period. Other issues covered in the report include public officials conditioning American audiences to fear Muslims, flying while Muslim, closure of bank accounts linked to Muslim names, the FBI, the impact of Islamophobia in educational institutions, watch lists, and workplace discrimination. We will also talk about the new Texas Senate Bill 4 signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott banning "sanctuary cities" in Texas and requiring local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and allowing police to inquire about the immigration status of people they lawfully detain.

Date:

May 3, 2017

1st Segment: Houston Palestine Film Festival
We will speak live with Mayk Chahine, Board Member with the Houston Palestine Film Festival (HPFF) about the 11th Annual Houston Palestine Film Festival (It's time to share stories from and about Palestine)! The festival will be held Friday, May 5 through Sunday, May 7 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and Rice University Media Center. Click here for more details and Program Lineup.
    

2nd Segment: The Israel Lobby and Fake Peace Processing by Khalil Jahshan
We will listen to the speech titled "The Israel Lobby and Fake Peace Processing" delivered by Khalil Jahshan at The Israel Lobby and American Policy Conference, which was held on March 24, 2017 at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. The conference was sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).
 
Khalil Jahshan has been serving as Executive Director of Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) since its inception in 2014. Between 2004 and 2013, Jahshan was a lecturer in International Studies and Languages at Pepperdine University and Executive Director of Pepperdine’s Seaver College Washington DC Internship Program. Previously, Jahshan served as Executive Vice President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Director of its government affairs affiliate, NAAA-ADC. Throughout his career he has held numerous positions, including Vice President of the American Committee on Jerusalem, President of the National Association of Arab-Americans, and National Director of the Association of Arab-American University graduates. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Harding University in 1972. Mr. Jahshan has served on the board of directors and advisory boards of various Middle East-oriented groups including ANERA, MIFTAH and Search for Common Ground. He has appeared on various media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, Al-Hurra, CCTV, Al-Arabiya, C-SPAN, and Charlie Rose.

Date:

April 26, 2017

Joe Catron
Organizer with Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. We will speak live with Joe about the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners including children, women and legislative council members held in Israeli jails, and the latest on the massive hunger strike that started 10 days ago on April 17, 2017 (Prisoner's Day) by nearly 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers, amidst resentment of Israel’s cruel policies towards Palestinian political prisoners.
 
We will also talk with him about the hearing held yesterday in a Detroit U.S. District Court where a plea agreement was reached to revoke Palestinian American Rasmea Odeh's U.S. citizenship and deport her from the U.S.!

Date:

April 19, 2017

"Beyond the Arab Muslim Ban: Feminist Futures and Joint Struggle" by Professor Nadine Naber
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and The Arab-American Education Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History at the University of Houston held the Nijad and Zeina Fares Arab-American Educational Foundation Annual Distinguished Lecture in Modern Arab Studies on March 21, 2017, at the University of Houston. The lecture was titled "Beyond the Arab Muslim Ban: Feminist Futures and Joint Struggle", and the speaker was Professor Nadine Naber.
   
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to Professor Naber's lecture on "Beyond the Arab Muslim Ban: Feminist Futures and Joint Struggle".
    
Professor Nadine Naber is a leading Arab-American feminist scholar, author, and social justice advocate. She is an associate professor in the Gender and Women's Studies Program and the Global Asian Studies Program and the director of the Arab American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Professor Naber is author of Arab America: Gender, Cultural Politics, and Activism and editor of Race and Arab Americans; Arab and Arab American Feminisms (winner of the Arab American Book Award 2012); and The Color of Violence.

Date:

April 12, 2017

Philip Giraldi
Former CIA Officer and Army Intelligence Officer who spent twenty years overseas in Europe and the Middle East working terrorism cases. He is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest and a recognized authority on international security and counterterrorism issues. He writes regularly on terrorism, intelligence, and security issues, and appears frequently on national and international broadcasts. He holds a BA with honors from the University of Chicago and an MA and Ph.D. in Modern History from the University of London.
  

A live conversation with Mr. Giraldi about the recent U.S. missile attack on Syria after a horrific poisonous gas attack in Khan Shaykhun, south of the Syrian city of Idlib that killed dozens of civilians.
  
Mr. Giraldi is one of several prominent former intelligence and other officials with Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (from virtually every branch of the U.S. national security state) that have released a statement saying "Trump Should Rethink Syria Escalation", and also asking Trump to pull back from his dangerous escalation of tensions with Russia.

Date:

April 5, 2017

               

Spring Fund Drive

Date:

March 29, 2017

The 3rd Annual Lebanese Festival
A live conversation with Hiba Elroz and Fred Davis, members of the Lebanese Festival Committee, about the 3rd Annual Lebanese Festival that will be held Friday through Sunday, March 31-April 2 at Jones Plaza in Downtown Houston.
 
There will be entertainment, food, different activities, great festivities, enjoyable atmosphere for both adults and children, door prizes, music, folkloric dances, performances, and much more. This will not just be a festival...it will be a one of a kind experience as attendees are whisked away on a memorable and exquisite journey to explore all that Lebanon has to offer. The 3rd Annual Houston Lebanese Festival will be unlike any other festival before. It will be filled with surprises that take you to the streets, the sights, and the sounds of Lebanon. This event is hosted by the American Lebanese Cultural Center (ALCC) in Houston. 
              

Spring Fund Drive

Date:

March 22, 2017

1st Segment: The 7th Annual Houston Palestinian Festival
A live conversation with Ruba Afifi, Festival Chair and Board Member with the Palestinian American Cultural Center (PACC-Houston) and Alma AlQuqa, Festival Co-Chair about the 7th Annual Houston Palestinian Festival scheduled to be held March 25-26 at Jones Plaza in Downtown Houston. We will also speak with Dalal Abu Amneh who will be performing live at the Festival. Dalal is a Palestinian singer singing classical and folk music of the Arabic musical heritage, and also a neuroscientist from Nazareth. She is committed to achieving humanitarian goals through her art and draws from the rich culture of Palestine, and aims to develop this art and spread the Palestinian culture to the wider world. Dalal is crafting a global Palestinian identity and advocating for the Palestinian cause through her music. She has participated in many international and Arab festivals and has represented Palestine in several Arab operettas and also participated in many local and International cultural events. In addition to her participation with her own band, Dalal is the lead singer in the international orchestra MESTO where she performs Arab and Palestinian folk, accompanied by Western musicians and orchestral arrangement. A surprise to many of her fans, besides music and singing, Dalal is studying for a Ph.D. in neuroscience in the Faculty of Medicine at the Technical Institute in Haifa.
  

2nd Segment: ESCOWA's New Report: Israel is guilty of apartheid 
We will talk about a new report published a few days ago by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, ESCOWA, which directly accuses Israel of imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people. The report also urges governments to "support boycott, divestment and sanctions activities and respond positively to calls for such initiatives." What did the U.N. do when the report was released? Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ordered the report be withdrawn and removed from the web! Rima Khalaf, the head of the U.N. agency ESCOWA, responsible for this report resigned in protest!

Date:

March 15, 2017

Trump’s Foreign Policy Positions on Palestine and the Middle East
The Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. held an event titled "Trump’s Foreign Policy Positions on Palestine and the Middle East" on February 7, 2017. Panelists Dr. Nathan Brown, Dr. Shibley Telhami, and Professor P.J. Crowley will examine in this panel the foreign policy positions of President Donald Trump with regard to Palestine and the Middle East. Among the many issues related to the subject of this panel are President Trump's campaign promise to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and his appointment of David Friedman, a pro-settlement lawyer with no foreign policy experience, as US ambassador to Israel. The panelists will discuss these issues, while examining the widespread regional and global effects the Trump administration will bring.
  
Today, on Arab Voices, we will listen to that panel.
 
Dr. Nathan Brown is a professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies as well as Director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Washington University. From 2013 to 2015, he was President of the Middle East Association–the academic association for scholars studying in the region. In 2013, Dr.Brown was named a Guggenheim Fellow. Four years earlier he was named a Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For the 2009-2010 academic year, he was a fellow at the Wilson International Center for Scholars.
  
Philip J. (P.J.) Crowley is a professor of practice and distinguished fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communications at George Washington University, after serving a long career in the U.S. Department of State. He is a specialist on national security and from 2011- 2012 he was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress where he authored detailed analyses on security issues including Safe At Home —a national security strategy to protect the American homeland, improve national preparedness and rebuild the US standing in the world.
  
Dr. Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development and the Director of the University of Maryland critical issues poll. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His best-selling book, The Stakes: America and the Middle East, was selected by Foreign Affairs as one of the top five books on the Middle East in 2003. His recent book, The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East, was published in 2013. Dr. Telhami was selected by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, along with the New York Times, as one of the “great immigrants” for 2013.

Date:

March 8, 2017

1st Segment: President Trump's new "Muslim Ban"
President Trump signed on Monday, March 6, 2017 another executive order to ban Muslims and Arabs from 6 Muslim countries from entering the United States. This is his second attempt at this after his first executive order to ban Muslims from 7 countries was stopped in courts. Several national organizations voiced opposition and concerns about this second attempt at banning Muslims from entering the United States.
 
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to statements and reactions to this latest executive order from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). We will also listen to a news conference held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
       

2nd Segment: Dr. Michael Fares 
Instructional Assistant Professor of Arabic at the University of Houston. He joined the department of Modern and Classical Languages at UH in 2012. Michael grew up in the Middle East and has spent time in several Arabic speaking countries. He teaches beginning and intermediate Arabic, and is working to develop the curriculum for these courses as part of the department’s newly created Arab Studies Minor. Prior to teaching at the University of Houston, Michael worked as a teaching assistant for the Arabic Flagship Program at the University of Texas. He also served as an instructor of advanced Arabic for the University of Texas Arabic Summer Institute. Michael is interested in foreign language acquisition, as well as Medieval Arabic philosophy and literature. He also has several publications and projects, including University of Houston Arabic Speaking Faculty Interview Series, Online Beginning Arabic “Catchup” Lecture Series, The Phenomenon of Interlanguage and its Importance for Teaching Arabic as a Second Language, and Ghassan Kanafani’s “The Stolen Shirt”: A Translation and Introduction.
  
We will speak with professor Fares about the Syrian refugees and the upcoming “Sketches of the Syrian Diaspora: A night of Music and Storytelling” event that will be held at the University of Houston on March 22, 2017.

Date:

March 1, 2017

Dr. Ramzy Baroud
US-Arab journalist, media consultant, author, internationally-syndicated columnist, founder and editor of Palestine Chronicle, former managing editor of the London-based Middle East Eye, former editor-in-chief of The Brunei Times, and former deputy managing editor of Al Jazeera online. He is the author of several books including Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion, The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle, and My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story. He is also the co-author, with Samah Sabawi and Jehan Bseiso, of the poetry collection I Remember My Name. His work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and journals worldwide, and is regularly translated and republished in several languages. He has contributed to and was referenced in hundreds of books and academic journals. Baroud has been a guest on many television and radio programs nationally and internationally, and he has been a guest speaker at many top universities around the world. Baroud has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Palestine Studies from the European Centre for Palestinian Studies at the University of Exeter.

Date:

February 22, 2017

1st Segment: Building Resistance: Japanese Imprisonment and the Fight Against a Muslim Registry
Produced by Making Contact (02.14.2017)
 
This year is the 75th anniversary of we now call Japanese Internment. And every year since 1942, Japanese Americans have tried to get the rest of us to remember what happened. To notice the scar that mass incarceration left, not just on the Japanese community, but on all of us. We found ourselves at similar crossroads in 2001 when the Bush Administration used the chaos of 9/11 to push through drastic changes, including the creation of a Muslim registry called NSEERS, the National Security Entry Exit Registration System. But, people fought it. And won. Today, as President Trump moves to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and threatens to build another registry we are faced with similar choices. So, what can we learn from our history? And how do we fight back?
 
Featuring:
Satsuki Ina, documentarian; Mutsu Homma, Roy Ebihara, George Murihiro, Matsuo Watanabe, survivors; Joseph Arsinoe, US soldier; War Relocation Authority. Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center; Anirvan Chatterjee, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action Liz Ouyang, attorney; Mohammad Sarfaraz Hussain; Anirvan Chatterjee, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action; Jason Prado, Sophie Xie, DoBetter.Tech
     

2nd Segment: Lawyers, activists organize against Trump’s Muslim ban
A podcast produced by The Electronic Intifada (02.03.2017)
  
Immigration attorneys and immigrant rights groups continue to fight the Trump administration’s so-called Muslim ban but the executive branch of the US government remains intransigent in its refusal to comply with federal court orders against the ban. The executive order banning persons from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US was signed by President Donald Trump last Friday. On Saturday, thousands of activists poured into airports around the US to demand that Customs and Border Protection (CPB) release people it had detained under the ban. By the evening, a federal court in New York had issued an immediate order against the ban.
 
“What I saw at the protests at SFO [San Francisco International airport] was an organized and focused crowd of protesters … to respond and protest to the immediate implementation of Trump’s executive order,” said The Electronic Intifada’s Charlotte Silver in an interview for the podcast.
 
On Wednesday, immigration attorneys in Southern California told The Electronic Intifada that the US Marshals Service is failing to enforce federal court orders against the CPB at Los Angeles International airport, Silver reported.
 
There have been ”several” instances in the past few days where CBP agents “are telling lawyers, telling congress people, telling activists that they are specifically not complying with the court order, that it is not applying to them,” Silver explained.

She said that there are “serious reasons to be concerned about the Trump administration and its federal agency’s willingness to comply with court orders.”
 
Featured audio: Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, speaking to crowd at SFO, 28 January; crowd chanting and drumming via Palestinian Memes

Date:

February 15, 2017

Panel Discussion about "Immigration Ban Statement"
The Arab American Cultural and Community Center (ACC) in Houston held a panel discussion of local immigration lawyers and experts on February 11, 2017 to help address the community's concerns and help clarify questions in regards to the immigration ban that was put in effect January 27, 2017. The Panel included:
 
Wafa Abdin, Esq.
Vice President for Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities. She oversees the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, the largest non-profit provider of immigration legal services for low-income and indigent non-citizens and Refugee Resettlement Program. She has more than 15 years of experience in immigration law and is a frequent lecturer at immigration conferences and has also written several articles and papers on immigration law topics. In recognition of her outstanding work and dedication, she was awarded the Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award in 2010 by the Texas State Bar.

Norma Ayoub
Attorney at the law firm of Ayoub & Associates, PC. She has been practicing law for about 18 years. Earlier in her career she handled international corporate matters while working overseas. Upon returning to the US, she opened her own office and has handled strictly immigration matters for the past 16 years and is licensed in both New York and Texas. She is admitted in various appellate courts. She speaks fluent Arabic.

Nejd Jill Yaziji
Attorney at Yaziji Law Firm. She has been practicing Immigration & Asylum Law for more than a decade. She represents clients from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt, Ukraine and other countries. She is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, and is Editor-in-Chief of The Houston Lawyer magazine (2016-2017), the official publication of the Houston Bar Association.
 
Today on Arab Voices we will listen to the remarks made at the panel discussion on refugees, asylum and non-immigrant visa. We will also listen to some of the questions and answers raised during the event such as could a Muslim registry be enforced, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), what do undocumented immigrants need to do, what to do if targeted by ICE, what can we do to counter hate speech and hate crimes, what will happen to TPS, when can one apply for asylum, what is the legality of agents asking for and searching smartphones and laptops at airports, what is the status of DACA, and more.

Date:

February 8, 2017

1st Segment: Wafa Abdin
Vice President for Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities. She oversees the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, the largest non-profit provider of immigration legal services for low-income and indigent non-citizens and Refugee Resettlement Program. Ms. Abdin has more than fifteen years of experience in Immigration Law and is a frequent lecturer at Immigration conferences and has also written several articles and papers on Immigration law topics. In recognition of her outstanding work and dedication, Ms. Abdin was awarded the Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award in 2010 by the Texas State Bar.
 
We will speak live with Wafa about President Trump's executive order, the lawsuits filed to stop it, where does it legally stand now, and more.
 

2nd Segment: Ussama Makdisi
Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University. In 2012-2013, Makdisi was an invited Resident Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin). In April 2009, the Carnegie Corporation named Makdisi a 2009 Carnegie Scholar as part of its effort to promote original scholarship regarding Muslim societies and communities, both in the United States and abroad. Professor Makdisi is the author of Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001. His previous books include Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East, which was the winner of the 2008 Albert Hourani Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association, the 2009 John Hope Franklin Prize of the American Studies Association, and a co-winner of the 2009 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize given by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Makdisi is also the author of The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon and co-editor of Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa. He has published widely on Ottoman and Arab history as well as on U.S.-Arab relations and U.S. missionary work in the Middle East. Among his major articles are “Anti-Americanism in the Arab World: An Interpretation of Brief History” which appeared in the Journal of American History and “Ottoman Orientalism” and “Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism, and Evangelical Modernity” both of which appeared in the American Historical Review. Professor Makdisi has also published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and in the Middle East Report. Professor Makdisi is now working on a manuscript on the origins of sectarianism in the modern Middle East to be published by the University of California Press.
  
We will speak live with professor Makdisi about President Trump’s Muslim ban executive order, what it means to U.S. relations with the Arab and Muslim world, President Trump's exempting Christians from his ban, and more. Professor Makdisi published an article last week titled "Trump's executive order pits Muslims against Christians" in which he says "The cynical executive order is not only blatantly discriminatory, but it plays Muslim against Christian, demonizing the former while pretending to be sympathetic to the latter. Trump's politics of sectarian sympathy and the purported protection of minorities has a long history. It has led to more persecution, not less."

Date:

February 1, 2017

Arsalan Safiullah
Staff Attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas Houston). He earned his undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal and holds a Master of Biotechnology (M.Biot.) and a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from Texas A&M University. In his current position, Arsalan focuses on employment discrimination, civil liberties issues, hate crimes, and know your rights community education.
         

Yolanda Rondon
Staff Attorney for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC National), where she works on legal cases and policy issues related to surveillance, racial and religious profiling, hate crimes, employment discrimination and immigration. She has provided written and oral testimony to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on surveillance, privacy and profiling concerns of the Arab American community, and has provided written testimony and reports to the United States Commission on Civil Rights on religious violations of prisoner rights and religious accommodation issues in immigration detentions. She has also addressed the United States compliance with the Convention Against Torture and privacy issues related to surveillance at the U.S. Department of State – Universal Periodic Review. She has also provide written testimony to U.S. Congressional committees on issues ranging from profiling and countering violent extremism to the refugee crisis and the visa waiver program, as well as oral testimony to the U.S. Department of Education on implementation of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act, resource equity, and accountability for English Language Learners.
   

We will speak live with Arsalan and Yolanda about President Trump's executive order to ban Muslims from 7 countries entry to the US, the effect of that on Houston and the nation, the nationwide stay issued by a federal judge halting part of Trump's immigration ban (after ACLU files emergency lawsuit), how should travelers deal with this ban and questioning by authorities at airports, the Texas Muslim Capitol Day that drew the largest crowd ever (held yesterday in Austin), the rise of attacks and hate crimes against Muslims in the US, and more.
   
    
We will also listen to the remarks of Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston and Art Acevedo, Chief of the Houston Police Department (HPD) in the wake of President Trump's executive order on Immigration, and their message to the community.

Date:

January 25, 2017

           

Winter Fund Drive

Date:

January 18, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump said at the AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) conference last year: "In Palestinian textbooks and mosques, you've got a culture of hatred that has been fermenting there for years, and if we want to achieve peace, they've got to go out and they got to start this educational process. They have to end education of hatred. They have to end it, and now".
 
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to an interview Arab Voices conducted with Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Lecturer in Language Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an award-winning Israeli peace activist, poet and author, and one of the founders of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Nurit is the daughter of Israeli General Matti Peled. In 2001 she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights and the Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. She is also the author of the book Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education. We will speak with Nurit about Palestinian and Israeli textbooks. Please note that her book is available as a Thank-You Gift today on Arab Voices during KPFT's Winter Fund Drive at the $200 pledge level (call 713-526-5738 or email ArabVoices@hotmail.com).
   

We will also listen to an interview Arab Voices conducted with Sut Jhally, Professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, a leading scholar on advertising, public relations, and political propaganda. He is the author of several books including The Codes of Advertising; Enlightened Racism; and The Spectacle of Accumulation. Professor Jhally is the Founder and Executive Director of the Media Education Foundation (MEF), a documentary film company that looks at issues related to U.S. media and public attitudes. He is the producer, director, or executive producer of dozens of MEF films, including Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: U.S. Media & the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict; Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire; Reel Bad Arabs (featuring Jack Shaheen); Edward Said On Orientalism; Dreamworlds: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video; and Advertising & the End of the World.
 
We will speak with professor Jhally about his new film The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in The United States, featuring Roger Waters, Amira Hass, M.J. Rosenberg, Stephen M. Walt, Noam Chomsky, Rula Jebreal, Henry Siegman, Rashid Khalidi, Rami Khouri, Yousef Munayyer, Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Phyllis Bennis, Norman Solomon, Mark Crispin Miller, Peter Hart, and Sut Jhally. This film is available as a Thank-You Gift today on Arab Voices during KPFT's Winter Fund Drive at the $120 pledge level (call 713-526-5738 or email ArabVoices@hotmail.com).
         

Winter Fund Drive

Date:

January 11, 2017

"The Terrorism Label: an Examination of American Criminal Prosecutions" by Wadie Said
The Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. held its annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture on October 7, 2016. The speaker was Wadie Said, professor of law at the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, and human rights law. Before joining the South Carolina faculty, Said represented terrorist suspects as an assistant federal public defender in Tampa, Florida, serving as counsel in United States v. Al-Arian, one of the largest terrorism prosecutions in American history. A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, he clerked for Chief Justice Charles P. Sifton of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He is also the author of the recently published book, Crimes of Terror: the Legal and Political Implications of Federal Terrorism Prosecutions, which provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the criminal terrorist prosecution in the United States. His scholarship also appears in many prestigious law journals and reviews.
 
Professor Wadie Said spoke on the issue of terrorism and the ways in which it’s produced and dealt with in the American legal system. The lecture was titled "The Terrorism Label: an Examination of American Criminal Prosecutions".
   
Today, on Arab Voices, we will listen to that lecture and some of the questions and answers that followed his talk.

Date:

January 4, 2017

Noam Chomsky: With Trump Election, We Are Now Facing Threats to the Survival of the Human Species
On December 5, 2016, Democracy Now! held a special celebration event for its 20th anniversary at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan, New York. More than 2,300 people attended the event. There were several speakers, including Noam Chomsky, world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author. He is professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of more than 100 books.
 
Today on Arab Voices, we will listen to Noam Chomsky’s remarks at that event on “Trump and the decline of the American Superpower”, and will also listen to the conversation that followed his talk that Amy Goodman and Juan González of Democracy Now! had with Noam Chomsky and Harry Belafonte, who also spoke at the event. Harry Belafonte is a longtime civil rights activist who was also a popular singer and actor. He was one of Martin Luther King’s closest confidants and helped organize the March on Washington in 1963.