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Talk Nation Radio for March 4, 2010
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti Continues with Roger Benham, part two of our discussion about the relief efforts in Haiti

Physicians working in Haiti are praising the group, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti and volunteers like our guest, Connecticut EMT Roger Benham. The wounds treated by the team have been in perfect condition after the fast response they made, and the ad hoc team that caught rides into Haiti with other groups has treated hundreds of people.

TRT: 29:45
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a broadcast member or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org free each week.
Talk Nation Radio is syndicated with Pacifica Network and airs weekly on a variety of stations. See our list on our web site.

Roger Benham returned from Haiti February 2nd after using his unique skills as a street medic to help earthquake victims. He is trained to deal with a wide variety of emergencies and his ad hoc group, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti, has become highly capable after working in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At that time the group’s members were working as part of Common Ground Relief. They helped set up a highly successful medical clinic in the 9th Ward that is still in operation.

His experience in New Orleans helped prepare Roger Benham for the crisis within the crisis, for the many misunderstandings that arose due to a long standing lack of sound press coverage on the Haitian people and their culture. We discuss the media in context with the three stages of rescue and relief. Benham also shares a story of helping one Haitian woman who was stoic as he cleaned her serious leg wound. Kembe Fem, (phoenically spelled) in Creole means “stay strong” and he explains how he was impacted by his experiences.

See last week’s show, part one of this discussion plus our interview with Suncere Shakur: www.mutualaiddisasterrelief.org
Group will continue to support efforts in Haiti, especially those of BAM, Moving Heaven and Earth for Haiti, Suncere Shakur’s group working with orphans and others in need.

Clips: (January, AP, Associated Press, Channel 4, London, Jonathan Rugman, Fox News, Haiti.) We’re listening to the sounds of a crowd reacting to a French rescue team that pulled a 17-year-old student, Darlene Etienne, from the rubble 15 days after the quake. Miraculously, Etienne was in stable condition. Aid workers trying to shield her from the cameras as the crowd applauded. These are the kinds of dramatic stories that have inspired people all over the world, but it’s been an emotional roller coaster ride.

News agencies that could have called attention to the desperate need of hundreds of thousands for food and water in different parts of Haiti, spent their precious air time playing up the drama of individuals being rescued. However, British TV took a different approach. One week after the Haitian earthquake, Channel 4 News interviewed Dr. Alphonse Edward of the Dominican Republic. He had been treating thousands just one mile from Haiti’s airport, and could see the mountain of aid supplies piled on the tarmac, yet his clinic in the trees with IV bags hung from branches was getting nothing. People were dying from dehydration, exposure, and their wounds, with the supplies that could have saved them sitting just minutes away. (Democracy Now also had this story.)

As of late January, press coverage was just starting to shift to the drama of American forces landing in Haiti, and instances of looting that justified their presence as more of a security force.

A Fox news team introduced a segment by Geraldo Rivera, who said he stumbled upon a bank robbery in progress…It was hard to know how Rivera could have stumbled upon the robbery and yet would have known that millions had been stolen. We had trouble verifying that cash was looted from a CitiBank location in Haiti.

There were stories of US soldiers refusing to enter hard hit areas due to security concerns, and in some cases there were aid workers and soldiers throwing aid at Haitians in the streets without even stopping vehicles. The tactics so infuriated Haitian Senator Jean Joel Joseph that he told AP: “It is true we are in need,” he said, “But don’t treat us like dogs. We ask the prime minister to ask the foreigners to reorganize the way this aid is being distributed.”

See: Jonathan Rudman, Channel 4 news interviewing a doctor from the Dominican Republic in Haiti. UN officials insist emergency relief is now starting to get through in quake hit Haiti, but Channel 4 News Producer Hannah Storm says many aid supplies remain piled up at the airport.
Channel 4 News, 20 January 2010

Channel 4 News, 20 January 2010 Jonathan Rugman, aid piles up at airport, people dying nearby as they cannot access it.

January 17, 2010, Fox News coverage, Geraldo Rivera, observed Citibank looting, millions stolen he says, but we cannot find evidence in follow up that this was the case. Calls in to Citibank result in strange responses, phone numbers that do not work.

Do you want to help in Haiti? Are you a Registered Nurse or do you have other skills? Check out the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief web site:

Madrih’s web site notes: “Some French and a good deal of Haitian Creole is needed. (Editor’s note: Audio courses in Haitian Creole are available for free from audible.com at http://bit.ly/d6NsPc and http://bit.ly/a4BTWG .) She recommends flying into the Dominican Republic, spending a night on the border, and entering Haiti in the morning”.

Talk Nation Radio for February 24, 2010

Action Medic Roger Benham and Suncere Ali Shakur on Haiti

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT:29:49
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or go to Radio4all.net and Archive.org for free download information. You can also follow this story on our blog here.

Post URL to Mp3: http://ia360942.us.archive.org/3/items/ActionMedicRogerBenhamAndSuncereAliShakurOnHaiti/2010-02-23-RogerBenham-SuncereShakur-HaitiAidUpdate-MutualAidDisasterRelief-pt1-128.mp3

Emergency Medical Technician and Action Medic, Roger Benham, returned from volunteering in Haiti on February 2nd and he joins us for part one of a two part special on relief efforts there. The US Military arrived expecting violence and as a result the aid was held up at the airport while security measures were sorted out. Roger Benham is part of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. They arrived in Haiti during the first week after the quake, anticipated the needs people would have and worked to simply meet them. Their success stories are an inspiration.

After the January earthquake in Haiti, community organizer and activist Suncere Ali Shakur founded the ad hoc group, “Being Able to Move Heaven and Earth for Haiti,” or BAM. The BAM web site will soon be up, meanwhile go to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief for information.

When we last spoke with Shakur he was fund raising and coordinating media and aid for eleven groups doing work for Haiti including Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, a group whose members largely consist of members of Common Ground Relief. But Shakur’s life has just taken a remarkable turn. The lives of 19 young Haitian orphans will now be a part of his life and Haiti’s future. For now we might call them the Shakur 19.

The “19″ are Children ranging in age from 1-week-old to 6-years-old. They had no parents, and no names when Suncere Ali Shakur first learned about them. Now they have Shakur’s last name and he is gearing up to be a father to them and more. He has committed to the goal of providing good lives, education, and security for the kids, and he and a team of other volunteers already have plans to build them a home in Haiti.

Contact Suncere at 828-776-0062 if you’d like to be involved in helping the Shakur 19.

For Haiti relief in general, Checks can be made out to:
Artistic Evolution Inc///Dedicated Haiti Relief Account
(Mutual Aid’s 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor)
http://www.mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/

The Mutual Aid Disaster Relief team, MADr, is a network of groups committed to working in solidarity with the people of Haiti. Their first team arrived shortly after the earthquake and began offering the same kind of program this group set up for New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At their web site, http://www.mutualaiddisasterrelief.org you can read updates from volunteers in Haiti.

Here is a sample dated Monday, February 15 Daily Summary Report, Team 4 (Team Montana):

“Speaking of Partners In Health, their doctors rotated out of the country on Sunday, with the next PIH team due in on Wednesday. This has left a 4-day window with no team of doctors at the hospital… meaning Team Montana is working with the Haitian nurses to take care of ALL of the surgical patients and most everyone else at the hospital. One of the biggest issues is that the PIH doctors are the best in their respective fields in the US and are pulling off major, life saving surgeries – including skin grafts – in what’s basically a “country hospital,” leaving patients with gigantic surgical wounds – both traumatic wounds and surgical wounds – in a less than ideal environment. It’s important to remember that this hospital does not have an EKG or an AED, let alone an ICU ward. The team feels very strongly that if they weren’t there for this window of time, at least some of the patients would have ended up with massive infections, if not worse.

The hospital is a very real place, for lack of a better way to put it. Patients generally come with their families. Their families bring the bed linens, take care of meals, etc. The hospital is just FULL of people, and any time a patient passes away, the grief just spreads like fire beyond their family and into the streets. That said, the team is holding it down, working all day doing all sorts of care. Two ED nurses from a missionary organization showed up a couple days ago, and they’ve been helping out a lot too”.

write to us at talknationradio@gmail.com

Talk Nation Radio for February 17, 2010
Dahr Jamail on Iraq War Vet Court Martialed over his Stop Loss Song

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT:29:47
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or try Archive.org and Radio4all.net for free downloads.

We’re joined by journalist Dahr Jamail, author of Beyond the Green Zone, Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. He’s been on tour with his latest book, The Will to Resist, Soldiers who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his February 8th article in TruthOut.org, “Army Imprisons Soldier for Singing Against Stop-Loss Policy,” is also about a soldier who has resisted further military service. Iraq War Veteran Marc Hall was stop-lossed after a 15 month tour. His original protest song about the stop loss policy landed him in prison in Liberty County Georgia, and the Army will send him back to Iraq for court martial proceedings.

At a White House concert February 10th President Barack Obama praised the singers and song writers who would risk being sent to jail during the civil rights era as they spoke out for what they believed.
Obama said, “Dr. King himself once acknowledged that he didn’t see “the real meaning of the movement” until he saw young people singing in the face of hostility. …You see, it’s easy to sing when you’re happy. It’s easy to sing when you’re among friends. It’s easy to sing when times are good. But it is hard to sing when times are rough. It’s hard to sing in the face of taunts, and fear, and the constant threat of violence. It’s hard to sing when folks are being beaten, when leaders are being jailed.”

Iraq War Veteran, Army Specialist Marc Hall was sent to prison in Louisiana for sharing his Stop Loss song with the Military and the general public. Hall’s song is angry, but “it it hyperbole” says Dahr Jamail, and Hall has denied having any ill intent toward anyone in the Military. Still, the Military is sending him back to Iraq for courts martial proceedings. That means his lawyer and others who may wish to speak out on his behalf will have great difficulty attending the trial.

The story was published in Truthout.org February 8, 2010, and in Inter Press Service, February 10, 2010: Army Imprisons Soldier for Singing Against Stop-Loss Policy.

We compare this case with the case of civil rights protesters and singers who were celebrated at the White House February 9th 2010 by President Barack Obama. See his statements below from a press release.

Press Release 2-10-2010
White House

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release, February 10, 2010 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT “IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE: A CELEBRATION OF MUSIC FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT” February 9, 2010 East Room 8:08 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the White House, everybody. And thank you for braving the storm. I am thrilled to see all of you here today — friends, guests, members of my Cabinet, members of Congress, our Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden, and everyone watching at home — for the fifth in a series of evenings celebrating the music that tells the story of America.

Tonight, we celebrate the music of a movement.

To help us do that, Michelle and I are thrilled to welcome a tremendous group of artists who influenced that music, and artists who were influenced by it:

Yolanda Adams; Joan Baez; Natalie Cole; Morgan Freeman; Jennifer Hudson; John Mellencamp; Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon; Smokey Robinson; the Blind Boys of Alabama; the Howard University Choir; and a man who was good enough to take a night off from his Never Ending Tour — Mr. Bob Dylan.

I want to thank some of them for spending some time earlier here today, leading a workshop of high school students — perhaps even inspiring the next generation of civil rights leaders.

Let me also just acknowledge a good friend to us all, Dr. Joseph Lowery, who was here — who couldn’t be here with us today, but he is recuperating after an illness and we want to keep him in our thoughts and prayers tonight.

Now, the civil rights movement was a movement sustained by music. It was lifted by spirituals inspired by the Bible. It was sharpened by protest songs about wrongs that needed righting. It was broadened by folk artists like a New York-born daughter of immigrants, and a young storyteller from Minnesota, who captured the hardships and hopes of people who were worlds different from them, in ways that only song can do.

It was a movement with a soundtrack — diverse strains of music that coalesced when the moment was right. But that soundtrack wasn’t just inspired by the movement; it gave strength in return — a fact not lost on the movement’s leaders.

It’s been said that when Dr. King and his associates were looking for communities to organize and mobilize, they’d know which were disciplined enough and serious enough when they saw folks singing freedom songs. Dr. King himself once acknowledged that he didn’t see “the real meaning of the movement” until he saw young people singing in the face of hostility.

You see, it’s easy to sing when you’re happy. It’s easy to sing when you’re among friends. It’s easy to sing when times are good. But it is hard to sing when times are rough. It’s hard to sing in the face of taunts, and fear, and the constant threat of violence. It’s hard to sing when folks are being beaten, when leaders are being jailed, when churches are being bombed.

It’s hard to sing in times like that. But times like that are precisely when the power of song is most potent. Above the din of hatred; amidst the deafening silence of inaction; the hymns of the civil rights movement helped carry the cause of a people and advance the ideals of a nation.

Bernice Johnson Reagon knew this. One day when she was young, she was sitting in church when a local sheriff and his deputies showed up to intimidate the congregation. “They stood at the door,” Bernice wrote, “making sure everyone knew they were there. Then,” she said; “a song began. And the song made sure that the sheriff and his deputies knew that we were there.”

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan knew this. One day in 1963, they joined hundreds of thousands on the National Mall and sang of a day when the time would come; when the winds would stop; when a ship would come in. They sang of a day when a righteous journey would reach its destination.

And Congressman John Lewis — a man of that Moses Generation; a man who couldn’t be here tonight, but whose sacrifices helped make it possible for me to be here tonight — he knew this too. For in the darkest hour, he said, “the songs fed our spirits and gave us hope.”

So to everyone here, or watching at home, let us enjoy the music we hear tonight. Let the music feed our spirits; give us hope; and carry us forward — as one people, and as one nation. Enjoy. (Applause.)

Talk Nation Radio for February 10, 2010
Indentured Workers on Corporate Visas Compete for US Jobs and more, Donna Conroy part two

Donna Conroy of Bright Future Jobs, see part 1 here.

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:42
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net

We continue our special on US Jobs, how US workers are being marginalized, their jobs outsourced in many cases to workers who are being brought to America to work under visas held by their bosses. They have H1B status. We hear more from Donna Conroy, Executive Director of Bright Future Jobs. She is working to advance legislation introduced by Democrat Dick Durban of Illinois that would give US workers a fair shot at a job in their own country.

Corporations are hiring foreign workers to save on benefits, pensions and wages, and here the current headlines about Greece are illustrative. Mismanagement by corporations and government offices has led to high inflation and a collapsing economy, and so the Greek Government has announced a plan to cut both social programs and pensions. As in the US, aging Greek workers may have to tack on years of work despite any plans they had to retire. As news spread of this plan, Gold and metals futures rallied, the Greek and U.S. stock index futures rose, and the international financial press lauded a major financial bail out plan. International markets love the idea of the Greek Government breaking its social contract with citizens.

US firms have been doing this for years, and Donna Conroy explained why the promises they have made to keep at least some US jobs at home are deceptive.

We hear what amounts to begging at times, politicians and others asking how we can convince corporations to stay in the US, in our states, and here and there we see think tanks with experts calling on US workers to accept much lower pay as a solution. Politicians have been running campaigns on their ability to keep jobs in America, but the equation seems to be that American workers are getting the message that all of the hard won battles within unions are being reversed and there is nothing they can do about it.

Donna Conroy is Executive Director for the group Brightfuturejobs.com, working to advance a bill to set limits on the outsourcing of US jobs. For Talk Nation Radio, I’m Dori Smith, this program is produced in Storrs, Connecticut and syndicated with Pacifica Network, talknationradio@gmail.com to write to us and you can listen to this broadcast again or download for air on your local radio station at talknationradio.org or our blog.

Talk Nation Radio for February 4, 2010
Donna Conroy on Corporations Holding Visas for their Foreign Workers

TRT: 29:45
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org.

We’re joined by former IT worker Donna Conroy to talk about the way US corporations are able to hold visas, hiring “H-1bs”, citizens from abroad who get hired for their US job openings.

President Obama may be diffusing some voter anger over the bank bail out with his announcement that he will provide TARP bail out money community banks, so they can in tern lend to small businesses. When larger banking companies accepted TARP money the intent was that they lend to small business and the public, however, they have not done so, and it’s yet another indication that they are increasingly rejecting assumptions about a social contract that ties them to governments and societies that help them earn profits.

According to Donna Conroy, corporations have little if any loyalty to US workers despite any big incentives they may have received over the years. The question is, what do taxpayers get from corporations they may have helped build, and later on helped bail out, only to find themselves training their replacements who happen to be from China, India, and other countries.

Donna Conroy is Executive Director and Lobbyist for the group www.Brightfuturejobs.com, they are supporting a bill written by Democrat Dick Durban of Illinois that would help set limits on the amount of outsourcing of jobs, US based corporations can do.

You can go to the web site www.brightfuturejobs.com for further information on Dick Durban’s bill, “”The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2009″ (S. 887).

Special: We hear a celebration of Black History Month from the Pacifica Radio Archives, clips of civil rights leader Fanny Lou Hammer. Thanks, Brian DeShazor, Archives Director, and Pacifica.

write to us at talknationradio@gmail.com or look for us on Facebook and Twitter (Dori_TalkNation)

Talk Nation Radio for January 28, 2010
Alice Rothchild, M.D. on her Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience

Alice Rothchild has just returned from Israel and Palestine. She discusses the climate there as Israel continues to build settlements in East Jerusalem, and threaten further attacks on Gaza. Also, 60 years after the Holocaust we remember. We also discuss how an American physician became transformed about Zionism, Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.

TRT: 29:55 (sorry the show is a bit long this week)
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

It has been sixty years since the holocaust, the death of an estimated 11 million people in Europe, six million of them Jews. Nazi occupation forces ravaged Poland, Austria, Belgium, France, Norway, parts of Russia, Yugoslavia, and other countries. Their Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were designed to keep Jews out of every facet of public life. Jews were stripped of citizenship, property, and the basic right to life. More than 1 million children were killed either in death camps or the violence, and an estimated two-thirds of European Jews died.

Alice Rothchild, M.D., a Boston OBGYN doctor and assistant professor of at Harvard Medical School, was the successful daughter of a largely orthodox Jewish family. The history of the holocaust had profound meaning in her life. And in her book, Broken Promises, Broken Dreams, Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience, she writes: “I was born in Boston MA in 1948 to first generation parents and grew up with the state of Israel as my friend, my pride, and ultimately, my heartbreak.”

Dr. Alice Rothchild devoted her life to helping the poor and under-served communities of Massachusetts, but what she learned about the Vietnam War taught her to look more deeply, even at the US Military that rescued Jews from death camps. That step took her ultimately to a long journey of exploration of Israeli history, and she is now working on a film about the year of her birth and beyond, Israel’s birth and its profound consequences for both Jews and Palestinians of various religious backgrounds.

Talk Nation Radio for January 20, 2010
Suncere Ali Shakur on Grass Roots Aid for Haiti

We hear about the urgently needed grass roots medical and food aid efforts by some of same people who went into New Orleans in 2005 to help the most poor victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Their first team into Port au Prince is already working to give out aid and provide medical support. A second group is waiting in the wings, and there are more groups preparing to go. They will help the Haitian people through ad hoc people’s aid efforts as they network and build solidarity from the USA to Haiti and back.

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:31
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or free at Radio4all.net and Archive.org.

See also big concert organized by Being Able to Move Heaven and Earth for Haiti in North Carolina.

For information on helping Haitian earthquake victims contact:
Suncere Ali Shakur 828-776-0062
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti
$21b in restitution, not charity

UPDATE: MADr team not injured in 1/20/10 after shock quake. Here are some updates:

Wednesday, January 20, 12:45 PM:
From Chris: “We just looked at an abandoned hospital that we could set up on the way to Leogane. It was hit really hard but we are also heading to Leogane right now for an assessment.”

Wednesday, January 20, 11:30 AM:
Chris reports that they were not affected by the aftershock:Chris: “Nah, we are great. We are traveling across to find where our team could be of use. Smells like death and it’s really hot. We’ve been to a few hospitals but we are in the works of setting up a new hospital.”

Wednesday, January 20, 7 AM:
Team 1 did not suffer any damage in the aftershock and is actively involved in treating wounded Haitians.
Chris from Team 1 reports: “Yea. We’re good. Just got to the city. Ran up on a baby with broken femur.”

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti and Being Able to Move Heaven and Earth for Haiti are ad-hoc organizations that are currently deploying highly mobile medical teams and shipping containers in order to skirt disaster politics and reach community contacts in places that other aid structures declare unsafe or not secured.

Support Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti! Donations may be made by PayPal, check, or wire transfer. Checks can be made out to: Artistic Evolution Inc///Dedicated Haiti Relief Account (Mutual Aid’s 501c3 fiscal sponsor). Please write “Mutual Aid Disaster Relief” in the memo so we can invoice donations. Mail checks to Artistic Evolution Inc c/o 3rd Ward – 195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Your donation will be tax deductible, and 100% of money raised will go directly to providing relief for the people of Haiti.

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Talk Nation Radio,
Haaretz Correspondent Bradley Burston, is Israel Planning Second Gaza War? Can Obama Stop it?

Bradley Burston is a columnist for Israel’s Haaretz Newspaper, and Senior Editor of Haaretz.com. See his January 2010 story here. Bradley Burston joins us to talk about his story in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, about the possibility that another Gaza war may be looming. He asks, can Obama stop it before it starts? Burston cites what he calls a “coolly terrifying analysis by Yom Tov Samia, former overall Israeli military commander of the Gaza Strip and the adjacent Negev”.

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
TRT:29:29
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or free at radio4all.net and archive.org

There have also been tensions between Israel and Turkey after strong language by Turkey’s Prime Minister, Erdogan who criticized Israel for recent air strikes on Gaza and their threats of more violence. Erdogan has also warned Lebanon that Israel may be planning an attack on its Northern neighbor and there are anecdotal reports of Israeli soldiers training in the Negev.

The heightened tensions coincide with Israel’s insistence on continuing to push Palestinians out of their homes to make way for new settlements. (See January 2009 story in IPS, Peace Recedes as Israeli Settlements Expand, By Daniel Luban here

Israel has also been fighting back against critics, some within the peace and justice community and the Gaza Freedom March delegates turned away as they tried to cross the Egyptian border into Gaza, and now the non-governmental organization community, human rights groups in particular. We discuss prospects for peace amid rising tensions.

For strong supporters of Israel, the debate centers on the rockets being launched from Gaza into Israel, something MidEast expert Phylllis Bennis said were illegal since they were not strictly against military targets. She said they could have been stopped had Israel agreed to maintain a cease fire and come to the table for talks with Hamas. Listen to full interview with Phyllis Bennis here.

Between late December early January, the IDF launched several air strikes in Gaza also shot at least twelve Palestinian between December 26th and January 13th. The strikes killed both militants and civilians. Some 20 missiles have also been launched against Israel without causing any damage, according to the Jerusalem Post.

In 2006 Bradley Burston received the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle East Journalism, an annual prize for Arab, Israeli and international journalists. His winning piece, “Let their people go,” appears in his blog “A Special Place in Hell” on the Haaretz Website.

This week on Talk Nation Radio, Phyllis Bennis on Afghanistan and Gaza.

“Israel is more militant now than in January of 2009,” says expert at the Institute for Policy Studies, IPS, in Washington D.C.

Part one, is second Gaza War possible in January 2010?

Part 2, Haaretz Correspondent, is Israel Planning Second Gaza War? Can Obama Stop It? (29:29)

TRT: 29:33
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or free at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

As Obama widens Bush’s war on terror, U.S. and MidEast “less safe” says Bennis.

We go over the week’s headlines on the Middle East with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, IPS, in Washington D.C. director of the IPS, Internationalism Project. She provides her expert analysis of the week’s headlines:

-The cost of U.S. President Obama’s escalation of the Afghan War.
-Israeli military threats of a possible second attack on Gaza, as reported by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
-The impact of U.S. attacks that have taken civilian lives in Pakistan and Yemen. This as -Yemen’s deputy prime minister for security and defense Rashad al-Alimi, has warned: “If there is direct intervention by the United States, it will strengthen al-Qaeda.”
-Remarks on Gaza Freedom March and sobering events in Egypt where U.S. and other international delegates were roughed up by police in the streets of Cairo.

Phyllis Bennis is author of many books on the Middle East including her just released, “Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer“. Bennis has also recently updated her 2007 book, “Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, A Primer“.

Relevant Headlines:
Democracy Now 1/11/10 US to Double Amount of Military Stockpiles in Israel, Mitchell Issues Loan Guarantee Threat to Israel, Joseph Lieberman, any attempt to “pressure Israel” will “fail” in US Congress.
And The looming war in Gaza: Can Obama stop it before it starts? By Bradley Burston, [Haaretz, 1/10/2010, “Next week, or the week after, Barack Obama may well see intelligence reports of tank battalions moving south and west along Israeli highways, and whole infantry brigades setting up camp in the western Negev. The countdown to the Second Gaza War has begun in earnest. Date it, if you like, to Sunday, and a coolly terrifying analysis by Yom Tov Samia, former overall Israeli military commander of the Gaza Strip and the adjacent Negev”.

Listen on WHUS FM 91.7 at 5 PM Wed. 1/13/10 or look for us on other fine community radio stations and Pacifica Network affiliates and stations in your area.

See updated list of agencies if you wish to donate for the people of Haiti safely and progressively.

Doctors without Borders, MSF, in Port Au Prince January 13, 2010. www.doctorswithoutborders.org

The first reports are now emerging from MSF teams in Haiti as they have treated hundreds of people injured in the quake. “The situation is chaotic,” said one senior staff. “I visited five medical centers, including a major hospital, and most of them were not functioning.”

We spoke with Jennifer Tierney of Doctors without Borders about their facilities in Port Au Prince: “Some of our facilities have suffered significant damage and the teams are working extremely hard right now to provide medical services to people who have suffered as a result of the quake. They have set up some tent facilities and have treated more than 300 patients at this point for trauma injuries including burns and fractures. We are collecting donations to support the emergency and ongoing response in Haiti. MSF, Doctors without Borders, has been present in the country for quite some time now and our service to that population will continue after the earthquake response is over.”

For Haiti Aid: There is “text” for Haiti at 90999 to send a 10.00 dollar donation through the Red Cross. But please also consider supporting long term programs already under way in Haiti as well. Up top our some we know, and below that recommended sites that have been sent in to Talk Nation Radio.

MSF, Doctors without Borders: They are treating hundreds in tent clinics after facilities damaged.

AFSC, American Friends Service Committee are collecting money for aid to Haiti on an emergency basis. Please continue to check their web site for updates 1-13-10.

STAND WITH HAITI Donations page has been set up HERE
The special web site for Partners in Health has news reports and things you can do to support Haitians. Partners in Health, was already working in Haiti on long term programs and their emphasis in on helping the poor. Partners in Health on Facebook.

Operation USA does conventional international aid programs and they have a project in Haiti plus emergency aid due to the earthquake.

This list was sent by Haiti MaryCare in Connecticut, as well as TrueMajority, Cuba Info, CodePink and Latin American Working Group.

The team of Haiti Marycare is currently gathering people and resources to help the wounded and start the long process of rebuilding the infrastructure of Haiti. Please consider making a donation to help the people of Haiti. As always, because all overhead costs are paid by our US team, 100% of your donation will go directly towards relief in Haiti.

To help, you can donate to Haiti Marycare online through our web site: Haiti Marycare or send a check to: Haiti Marycare, Inc., 55 King St., Danbury, CT 06811

For more information please call 203-675-4770 to reach Sherman Malone, Haiti Marycare Secretary of the Board, or email: Joan DeFrances, Tom Larkin or Mary Lou Larkin.

From TrueMajority
ProgressivesForHaiti

100% of the money donated goes directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org
That organization has a fantastic track record in situations like these, and they already have the largest working clinic in Port au Prince. Thanks for doing what you can, -Matt Matt Holland Online Director TrueMajority / USAction

From The Cuba Central Team

Mercy Corps: HERE

Partners in Health: HERE

If you’re interested in learning more about the human dimensions of this disaster and what governments and aid agencies are doing to respond, we recommend reading Josh String’s HERE at Hemispheric Brief blog.

Dear CODEPINKers,

The worst earthquake in 200 years struck Haiti this week, flattening the capital city of Port-au-Prince and, according to early estimates, killing as many as 50,000. International aid efforts will be critical in the next few days to help prevent more human suffering. Here are several sister organizations doing effective, immediate, and grassroots disaster relief work in Haiti who will put your donation to use:

* MADRE has worked in Haiti for many years and supporting community organizations on the ground. Donate HERE

* Global Fund for Women is directing funds to women’s peace-building efforts and the rebuilding of organizations and communities the disaster to support long-term sustainability. Donate HERE

* V-Day is directing funds to the V-Day Haiti Sorority Safe House in Port-au-Prince that provides shelter to women survivors of violence and their children. Learn more and donate HERE

* The Lambdi Fund of Haiti is a second responder to the disaster, meaning after the initial assistance in Haiti, the Lambi Fund will be there in the long-term to help rebuild. Learn more and donate: HERE

* CODEPINKer Sasha Kramer works with the organization SOIL in Haiti and will be traveling to Port-au-Prince tomorrow with supplies and to help aid workers translate. For the next few weeks, Sasha and SOIL will be traveling back and forth between Cap Haitien and the capital with supplies and people. All donations made in the next month will go towards earthquake relief.

Our hearts go out to the Haitian people in this time of crisis. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Sincerely,
Dana, Emily, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Janet, Jodie, Marina, Medea, Nancy, Paris, Rae, and Whitney

P.S. Educate yourself: Democracy Now had some great coverage on the U.S. policy in Haiti and how it has laid the foundation for why the impact of a natural disaster is so severe:

Take Action: Tell Obama to grant “temporary protected status” for Haitian refugees in the US: Credo Action

Join Us: Don’t forget to join our Facebook Page for more CODEPINK conversation and action:

From Latin American Working Group “Lisa, Latin America Working Group” : Register FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SURVIVORS The State Department has set up a hotline for those seeking information about family members in Haiti. Call 888-407-4747

DONATE TO HAITI
Financial donations are desperately needed for relief after the massive earthquake in Haiti. The following agencies are among many that are sending aid and volunteers to the country. Please be generous.

_____________________

This is the list being sent around. We deleted only a few agencies as we have had experience with them in the past that were not positive. Dori

_____________________

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 W. 36th St., New York, N.Y. 10018
212-792-2900

AMERICAN RED CROSS
2025 E St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
800-733-2767
Text “HAITI” to “90999” to make a $10 donation.

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090
800-736-3467

EPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT
P.O. Box 7058 Merrifield, Va. 22116-7058
800-334-7626, ext. 5129

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
P.O. Box 17061, Baltimore, Md. 21298-9832
800-LWR-LWR-2 (800-597-5972)

OXFAM AMERICA
226 Causeway St., 5th Floor, Boston, Mass. 02114-2206
800-77-OXFAM (776-9326)

THE SALVATION ARMY
615 Slaters Lane, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, Va. 22313

SAVE THE CHILDREN
Haiti Earthquake Children in Emergency Fund,
54 Wilton Road, Westport 06880
800-728-3843

U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane, New York, N.Y. 10038
800-FOR-KIDS (367-5437)

This week on Talk Nation Radio, Phyllis Bennis on Afghanistan and Gaza.

As Obama widens Bush’s war on terror, U.S. and MidEast “less safe” says Bennis.

We go over the week’s headlines on the Middle East with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, IPS, in Washington D.C. director of the IPS, Internationalism Project. She provides her expert analysis of the week’s headlines:

-The cost of U.S. President Obama’s escalation of the Afghan War.
-Israeli military threats of a possible second attack on Gaza, as reported by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
-The impact of U.S. attacks that have taken civilian lives in Pakistan and Yemen. This as -Yemen’s deputy prime minister for security and defense Rashad al-Alimi, has warned: “If there is direct intervention by the United States, it will strengthen al-Qaeda.”
-Remarks on Gaza Freedom March and sobering events in Egypt where U.S. and other international delegates were roughed up by police in the streets of Cairo.

Phyllis Bennis is author of many books on the Middle East including her just released, “Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer“. Bennis has also recently updated her 2007 book, “Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, A Primer“.

Relevant Headlines:
Democracy Now 1/11/10 US to Double Amount of Military Stockpiles in Israel, Mitchell Issues Loan Guarantee Threat to Israel, Joseph Lieberman, any attempt to “pressure Israel” will “fail” in US Congress.
And The looming war in Gaza: Can Obama stop it before it starts? By Bradley Burston, [Haaretz, 1/10/2010, “Next week, or the week after, Barack Obama may well see intelligence reports of tank battalions moving south and west along Israeli highways, and whole infantry brigades setting up camp in the western Negev. The countdown to the Second Gaza War has begun in earnest. Date it, if you like, to Sunday, and a coolly terrifying analysis by Yom Tov Samia, former overall Israeli military commander of the Gaza Strip and the adjacent Negev”.

Listen on WHUS FM 91.7 at 5 PM Wed. 1/13/10 or look for us on other fine community radio stations and Pacifica Network affiliates and stations in your area. A list of stations airing our program weekly can be found at http://www.talknationradio.org and dot com. You can also download our program at our web site or at our blog: http://talknationradioblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you for listening, contributing, and supporting us at TNR and my heartfelt thanks to Pulse for their honorable mention of me in their list of top 20 global media figures of 2009. I’m honored. http://pulsemedia.org/2009/12/31/pulse-20-top-global-media-figures-of-2009/

For 2010 we plan on expanding national and international news and analysis.

Dori Smith
general public emails to: talknationradio@gmail.com and look for us on Facebook and Twitter

Talk Nation Radio for January 7, 2009
David Bacon on How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants

David Bacon’s December 15th piece in Truthout.org was, “Should we Defend Illegal Workers?” We asked him to talk about that and about his book, “Illegal People”.

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
Syndicated with Pacifica Network
TRT: 29:50 music fades 10
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member here or use Radio4all.net and Archive.org.
Music by Fritz Heede

David Bacon is author of the book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants”. He documents labor, migration and globalization, and has written for the Nation, The American Prospect, The Progressive, and the San Francisco Chronicle. His 2006 book was, “Communities Without Borders.” You can learn more about his work at his web page.

Photo by David Bacon

See review here. And Google pages here.

Talk Nation Radio special with breaking news from Cairo
December 31, 2009

CORRECTION.
We have just learned that French citizen Marie Renee Le Grand was not beaten by Egyptian riot police but in fact died of a heat attack at Cairo hospital. We regret the error.

Delegates from USA and other countries were beaten in Cairo. We get updates from two delegates to Gaza Freedom March who were beaten and thrown to sidewalk atop others already collapsed there.

((One French delegate killed by Egyptian riot police. The protest was strictly peaceful. Some civil disobedience was used after Egypt canceled permits for public meeting.)) This report from Al Jazeera and Press TV was incorrect. We regret the error and will re-upload this program with the correction.

TRT: 25:30
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here if you are a member or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net.

New Year’s Special part 2 (corrected, we deleted the Marie Renee content, she has sadly died but of a heart attack in Cairo. We will provide another update with more clear corrections but this program is now fine to air as corrected. Thank you and again we regret our error.)

New Year’s Special Part 2 with portions deleted that were incorrect. We earlier reported that the death of Marie Renee was due to a police beating, instead, we’ve learned she died of a heart attack. Earlier reports on PressTV and Al Jazeera have been corrected.
Please also see part 1 and Christmas special below:

3PM EDT Cairo: We heard from Johanna L. Rivera and Christopher Hutchinson, two Connecticut residents in Cairo, that they were beaten by Egyptian police while trying to protest their inability to enter Gaza. The Egyptians allowed only a few delegates of the 1400 in Cairo to go across into Gaza. At the end of this special broadcast we hear another breaking news update:

This link is where our report on Marie Renee came from: A French citizen, Marie Renee, but we’ve learned that she has NOT died from injuries sustained at the hands of Egyptian security forces during a demonstration with the Gaza Freedom March, but rather, died at the hospital of a heart attack.

Finally, a Moroccan-Italian member of the delegation is at the hospital after being punched in the face, according to Media Benjamin of Codepink.

Reports said the woman died in the Cairo Hospital. She was traveling with a French delegation of approximately 300 nationals.

Previous interviews from Cairo and other countries on Gaza Freedom March, past week:

New Year’s Special part 1

Christmas Special, Gaza Freedom March

Talk Nation Radio for New Year’s 2009
The Gaza Freedom March Goes On

We are producing a follow up. Our guests on this week’s Talk Nation Radio were beaten in Cairo. They are OK. See message below. Audio to follow. Dori

Johanna L. Rivera, University of Connecticut graduate student Christopher Hutchinson, Connecticut United for Peace
Deena Mishel, Gaza Student for Peace
Ziddad Lunat, Gaza Freedom March spokesperson

TRT: 29:
Produced by Dori Smith, Talk Nation Radio studios, Storrs, Connecticut
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org
Clip by Sam Husseini in Cairo, confrontation with security official at US Embassy re who made decision to not allow group to enter Gaza.

International human rights activists carry the hopes of people from 42 countries in support of the 1400 peace delegates trying trying to get across the tightly controlled Egyptian border with Gaza. One year after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, the assault and invasion of Gaza, we continue to follow the story of protesters like Johanna L. Rivera, Christopher Hutchinson, Deema Mishel, and Ziddad Lunat, who are on the Gaza Freedom March. They are challenging the governments of Israeli, the US and Egypt to open Gaza’s borders for peace and aid. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters explained why he joined the Gaza Freedom March and we hear his reasons.
The marchers have been gaining widespread international support and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said Gazans are being denied their basic human rights. He urged Israel to end it’s “unacceptable and counterproductive blockade” and do more to repair damage done in the Gaza Strip by Israeli military action there in December and January of last year.
The Egyptian Government abruptly canceled the marcher’s travel plans into Gaza. As Johanna Rivera and Christopher Hutchinson explain, there were protests outside the US embassy in Cairo and at an organization for journalists. Both the US group and another group from France have been in negotiations with the Egyptian government. The group initially accepted a negotiated deal with Egypt that would have allowed 100 delegates in, but they changed their minds. It’s all or nothing they say, after learning that part of the deal would be that they must stop using the term: “Gaza Freedom March” to describe their efforts. We discuss some of the reasons for Israel’s refusal to allow the group to gain entry to Gaza.

Music by Fritz Heede
Clip: Roger Waters, www.gazafreedommarch.org and song Hello I Love You.

Update from Johanna Rivera in Cairo 9:40 EDT 12/31/09 via text message
Hello all:

We decided that since we are not going to march in Gaza we will do it here in Cairo. The people were together in front of the Egyptian museum at around 10 am. Hundreds of tourists give complicit looks to each other to confuse the police forces that already were gathered early. Everyone came running on the street when the signs of Palestinian flags were lifted on high. We started turning towards the crowd and gatherer all together holding hands and stopping the traffic.The police first tried to stop us by asking us to go into the sidewalk. We resisted and sat in the middle of the street. they started to pull the people out of the crowd by the hair and to kick people including women and old people. I was pulled by the Egyptiam force. They pulled me out of the crowd even when I stood and was getting my phone and camera out of my pocket to avoid loosing them, they drag me and shouted at me and threw me into a pile of people.

There is a kind of camp set up and people is planning to stay there tonight for new year….. It is really tiring but we will see if we get to go to Gaza at least for a couple of days.

Pray for us!

Pics to come…

Johanna

Happy New year from Cairo

Talk Nation Radio for Christmas Week, December 23, 2009
Johanna L. Rivera on her Solidarity Holiday at the Gaza Freedom March

Also featuring Olga Ghazaryan, Oxfam International’s regional director for the Middle East.
Breaking Story: 16 aid organizations criticize the US and international community in general for their failure to help end Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

TRT:29:13
Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, Connecticut
Download at Pacifica’s Audioport here Or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

As other American college students head home for the holidays, Johanna L. Rivera heads to Gaza for a solidarity Christmas at the Gaza Freedom March December 31st. A Christian, Rivera hopes to be in Bethlehem for Christmas then meet 1,000 other international activists and tens of thousands of Palestinians calling on Israel to open the borders for peace and aid. www.gazafreedommarch.org

Johanna L. Rivera is a chemical engineer studying pharmacy at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. She joins the Gaza Freedom March to spend Christmas in solidarity with the Palestinian civilians who have been suffering because of Israel’s blockade imposed after Hamas was elected in 2006. She will also meet some of the inspirational people who helped form her views on what is important in life: Peace, justice, freedom, and equality. For example, while in Gaza she may be able to meet 85 year old holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein.

Hedy Epstein is one of more than 1,000 people from all over the world, well known activists and students or other types of volunteers, hoping to promote peace and a lifting of the Israeli blockade. The list includes some government officials from France and the Philippines as well as Zainab Salbi of Women for Women International, writer Alice Walker, Franciscan Father Louis Vitale, Filipino MP Walden Bello, Codepink founders Jodi Evans and Medea Benjamin, author and activist Ali Abunimah, as well as French rap group M.A.P. — Musician Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and other artists, writers, and peace activists.

The Gaza Freedom March was organized by the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza, a diverse group of faith based and non faith based organization focusing on human rights under international law.

Youtube Clips: Hedy Epstein, and French Rappers MAP in Nablus.

A very happy solidarity holiday season! Our web site is talknationradio.org and special thanks to everyone who helps with this program particularly my husband Joseph Smith. Our music is by Fritz Heede