Discussion with Dr. James Zogby of the Arab-American Institute, where we examined the trajectory of the pro-Palestinian movement over the past 50 years, including his history as an advocate for Palestinian rights from grassroots campaigns in the 1970s to his more recent leadership in the Democratic National Committee (University of San Francisco, 1-hour video)
Category: Democratic Party
Dr. Zunes’ Speech from the Aug. 24 Panetta Protest
Serf City Times included this transcript of Dr. Zunes’ speech at a rally in Santa Cruz protesting U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s strident support for Israel’s far right government, placing him further right than even the Biden administration — and the failure of the Santa Cruz city government and other Democratic leaders to challenge him and others supporting the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza [source]
Lectures & 11 Interviews Nov. 2024 on Trump’s Election & the Middle East
First view Dr. Zunes’ 5-minute animated summary of his research on coup resistance; then his Lecture at the University of San Francisco on how to prepare for the aftermath of the election in the event of an attempted coup or legitimate victory by Trump.
- Lecture before the Unitarian Universalists of San Francisco on what a Trump administration would mean to the Middle East (1 hour 20 mins.)
- Al-Jazeera English: Interview on recent developments involving Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and the US (24 mins.)
- Al-Jazeera English: Shorter interview on recent dramatic developments in Syria (4 mins.)
- I’m one of three professors interviewed on AJE’s “Inside Story” about Biden’s responsibility in Harris’s defeat
- A half-hour interview for a Wisconsin radio station on Trump’s cabinet appointments and the effect a Trump regime may have on the Middle East
- A 25-minute interview with Kris Welch on KPFA-FM on the impact of the election on the Middle East (segment starts at the 32-minute mark)
- A 50-minute interview for a New Zealand radio show and podcast about the U.S. election and its broader implications
- A 45-minute interview for a San Francisco NPR affiliate on the U.S.-backed war on Gaza and the impact of the U.S. election
- I gave this brief analysis on the election and the Middle East for a San Francisco Bay area network affiliates
- Interviewed briefly on KPFA-FM’s evening news about how U.S. policy in support of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon could be impacted by Trump’s election victory (segment begins at the 13:55 mark)
- On Pacifica Radio’s “Flashpoints” (KPFA) talking about the then-upcoming election and foreign policy
- KPFA radio news interview on Israel’s attacks on Iran, the ongoing war crimes in Gaza, and the impact on the then-upcoming US election (segment starts at the 16:15).
Will Biden Cost Harris the Election?
News Lines Magazine October 8, 2024
[Dr. Zunes urges readers to please circulate this important article widely, particularly to those in swing states who are reluctant to vote for Harris because of the Biden administration’s Middle East policy.]
A detailed analysis of how Kamala Harris is seriously constrained by her role as sitting vice-president from breaking with the Biden administration’s hard-line support for Israel, but would likely take a significantly more moderate position and would likely end the wars once she became president.
Interview: Kamala Harris, Israel Palestine and the 2024 Democratic Convention
KSQD-FM August 19, 2024; 55 minutes (Dr. Zunes’s segment starts at 5:40)
Will Kamala Break With Joe on Israel?
The Progressive, July 26, 2024: While her Senate record was hawkish, Harris has signaled she’d make justice for Palestinians a higher priority than Biden…
Is Joe Biden’s Gaza Policy Leading to a Repeat of 1968?
The Progressive June 5, 2024
Zunes warns how Biden’s Gaza policy and the repression against student protests is creating a political environment similar to 1968, in which alienating young and minority voters could dampen voter.
Letter: Panetta opposes halting weapons to Israel
Santa Cruz Sentinel Letter to the Editor May 20, 2024:
Once again, our Congressperson Jimmy Panetta is out of step with his constituents….
Israel’s War on Gaza: 11 Zunes’ articles published Oct. 7-Dec. 31, 2023
- Political Costs of Biden’s Support for Israel’s War Mount [Source]
- U.S. Attacks on the ICJ are a Declaration of Empire [Source]
- Biden’s Gaza Failure Could Cost Democrats 2024 Election [Source]
- Applying International Law to Israel’s War and Hamas’ Attack [Video & Transcript]
- Scholars Weigh in on Gaza-Israel Conflict Counterpunch interview of Professors Zunes and international legal scholar Richard Falk [Princeton] on Israel, Gaza, and U.S. policy, 10/13/2023 [Source]
- How U.S. Policy Failures Have Helped Hamas [Source]
- Hamas, Israel and the U.S. Have Learned Nothing [Source]
- Biden’s Backing Israel War Crimes Carries on Sordid U.S. Tradition [Source]
- O Globo, Brazil’s largest newspaper, on Israel’s war on Gaza (English translation and original Portuguese transcript) [Source]
- Dr. Zunes is quoted in this Al-Jazeera article: Why are US Republicans pushing for aid to Israel but not Ukraine? [Source]
- More Articles and interviews on the Gaza Crisis
Abortion Foes Should Vote Democratic
The Progressive October 8, 2020: The nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, which could result in the eventual reversal of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, has brought this contentious issue to the forefront.
Will Susan Rice Be Biden’s Pick For VP ?
KPFA FM Radio August 6, 2020. [Listen or download now]
Congressional Democrats Supported Violent Force Against Protesters in 2010
Truthout June 19, 2020: Congressional Democrats have begun speaking out against police-perpetrated killings as well as the use of excessive force against protesters and journalists… Democrats have even rejected the notion that if some members of an initially nonviolent crowd fight back when attacked by security forces, it legitimates the targeting of protesters or those recording the incident, much less justifying lethal force. However, 10 years ago this week, a majority of congressional Democrats defended Israel’s killing of 10 passengers and crew on the Mavi Marmara sailing as part of a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israelis shot and killed 10 people aboard the ship, including five not resisting… most in the head.
Sanders Is Not Another McGovern. I Know – I Worked on McGovern’s Campaign; & PODCAST: Why Comparisons Between Sanders and McGovern Are Wrong
Truthout, February 26, 2020: With Bernie Sanders now the clear front-runner, we are hearing speculation — despite polls indicating otherwise — he would not be able to beat Trump in November. Repeated comparisons are being made to the 1972 landslide defeat of George McGovern — the only time the Democrats nominated a genuine progressive — with the implication that a similar fate would befall a Sanders nomination…
Also Podcast: YES! Rising Up With Sonali
Why Comparisons Between Sanders
and McGovern Are Wrong, March 2020.
Klobuchar Has Pushed Extreme Right-Wing Policy on Israel/Palestine
Truthout February 14, 2020; reposted at Portside.org: Much of the media has been focusing on the rise of centrist Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar as a serious contender in the Democratic presidential primary. Many progressives criticize her positions on climate change, environment, economic inequality, social welfare, the criminal legal system and her surprisingly right-wing foreign policy perspectives.
Villaraigosa still haunted by role as 2012 DNC chair
The Californian May 4, 2018: Despite endorsements from Luis Alejo, Simón Salinas, and other leading Monterey County Democrats, gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa has been struggling to gain traction statewide…
The Democrats and the Wasserman Schultz problem
National Catholic Reporter July 6, 2015: As chair of the Democratic National Committee since 2011, Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz… has engendered questions about her integrity and advocacy [as] one of the 46 current House members of the New Democratic Coalition, representing the party’s more conservative “pro-business” wing…
Progressives Flock to Ed Markey’s Senate Campaign Despite Hawkish Record
Truthout.org June 5, 2013
[Republished by the Huffington Post & Reddit]
Congressman Ed Markey’s senate campaign has received an unprecedented level of support from progressives despite Markey’s foreign policy record well to the right of the majority of Democrats.
Remembering George McGovern
Truthout October 22, 2012. Also see Zunes’ article in Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies and interview with McGovern in The Progressive
Getting to know George McGovern – who died Sunday morning at age 90 – as a friend, collaborator, co-author and co-teacher has been among my proudest and most fulfilling experiences. As a 15 year-old high school sophomore, I volunteered for his 1972 presidential campaign. McGovern won my county (one of the few in the South that went Democratic that year), but lost the state and the nation in a near-record landslide, thanks in large part to attacks by the right wing of the Democratic Party during the primaries and the dirty tricks by the campaign of incumbent President Richard Nixon during the fall campaign. These illegal acts, along with the resulting cover-ups, eventually led to impeachment procedures that forced Nixon’s resignation…
My Support for Ralph Nader, Ten Years Later: Lessons Learned
Truthout October 29, 2010; also from Tikkun.org, OpEdNews.com & Common Dreams
Like many people who campaigned and voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, the upcoming tenth anniversary of that disastrous election and awareness of the tragic results continues to haunt me. While it was perhaps the most serious political misjudgment I have ever made, it is important to recognize why at the time it seemed to be quite rational. It is also important to recognize what both the Democratic Party, as well as, progressives who are tempted to support left alternatives to the Democrats can learn from it. It should be emphasized… Nader did not cause George W. Bush to be elected president. Bush was not elected president. The election was stolen…
A “Progressive Hero?” Time to Think Outside of the Boxer
Huffington Post Oct 20, 2010|Updated May 25, 2011; also ZNetwork
The failure of progressives to make major inroads in electoral politics in the U.S. today could not be better illustrated than a recent decision by Democracy for America, a million-member political action committee founded by former Vermont governor Howard Dean which claims leadership in the support for progressive candidates for office, regarding a veteran U.S. senator facing reelection in November. The senator has strongly defended Israeli attacks on civilian population centers in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon and rejected calls for linking the billions of dollars in U.S. aid to human rights considerations…