Unitarian Universalist San Francisco, April 8, 2024, 1 hr. 19 mins.
Category: Self Determination
Self-determination
Getting Ukraine’s History Right
Truthout Feb. 28, 2024, by Stephen Zunes [source]
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, which ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and in turn prompted the Russian seizure of Crimea and the Russian-backed secessionist movement in the Donbas. It also marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion eight years later. Western anti-imperialists have correctly recognized a number of provocative actions and other missteps by the United States and NATO which are a necessary part of the context for the ongoing tragedy. However, it is essential for us to get our criticisms right…
Russian aggression, US hypocrisy and is UAE a safe haven for oligarchs?
The Progressive, March 1, 2022: There’s No Justification for Russia’s Aggression, But U.S. Double Standards on Illegal War Are Hard to Stomach: Nothing can excuse Putin’s invasion, but the hypocrisy could hardly be more striking.
Al Jazeera quotes Zunes March 7, 14 and 29
*The limits of Iran’s influence on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
*Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
*Can Russia return to the world stage as other aggressors have?
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Interview: Speaking of Palestine: The Occupations of Western Sahara and Palestine
KBBF Radio: Zunes on the occupation of Western Sahara and much more, plus Palestine Update and some poems by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
KZFR Peace and Justice: U.S. and Western Sahara
KZFR public radio, Chico, CA, 11 February 2022
[Audio’s no longer available. Find more at Western-Sahara.org]
U.S. and Western Sahara
WHMP Bill Newman Show, KZFR public radio, Chico, CA, 9 Feb. 2022 (Zunes begins at 39:00). Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Amnesty International Report and U.S. Reaction
Parallaxviews podcast, Feb. 8, 2022.
Zunes analysis of the recent Amnesty International report (begins at 1:29:00; also at Amnesty.org) arguing Israel is in engaging in the practice of apartheid against Palestinians, especially in the Occupied Territories. Dr. Zunes will also give his thoughts on the reaction of the U.S. media and Congress to the report.
WBAI Leonard Lopate at Large: Western Sahara and U.S. Policy
WBAI FM, NYC, February 7, 2022: Stephen Zunes discusses his updated edition of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution.
Western Sahara: Oberlin Club of Washington, DC
January 24, 2022 Zoom: The UN and the World Court have called for the Sahrawi population to be allowed the right of self-determination. The U.S. meanwhile, remains the only country in the world that formally recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The presentation is timed with the release of the second revised expanded edition of Professor Zunes’ book Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution, and his return from visiting Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. Professor Zunes will assess the human rights situation under the Moroccan rule, the nonviolent and armed resistance to the occupation, U.S. policy, and more. Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Biden’s Dangerous Refusal to Reverse Trump’s Western Sahara Policy
Foreign Policy In Focus, Jan. 21, 2022: In his final weeks in office, President Donald Trump stunned the international community in formally recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco. Morocco has occupied much of its southern neighbor since 1975, when it invaded and annexed the former Spanish colony in defiance of the United Nations Security Council and a landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice… Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
Stephen Zunes, co-author (with Jacob Mundy) of book ‘Western Sahara’
See WSahara.stephenzunes.org for reviews, related articles, audio and video, and to order the book.
Will Biden Admin Reverse Trump’s “Dangerous” Recognition of Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara?
DemocracyNow! Feb. 5, 2021, full transcript and video
President Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. foreign policy in the waning days of his administration and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory the country has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. U.S. recognition came as Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab nation to do so in recent months as part of a regional push by the Trump administration to strengthen Israel without addressing the Palestinian conflict. Now the Biden administration must weigh whether to reverse Trump’s decision…. “The United Nations Charter is very clear expansion of territory by military force is illegitimate.”
See Zunes’s website and book Western Sahara.
Western Sahara: The Struggle for Self-Determination
This article is no longer available. See WSahara.stephenzunes.org for reviews, related articles, audio and video, and to order the book.
Trump’s deal on Morocco’s Western Sahara annexation risks more global conflict
Washington Post December 13, 2020: Last week, President Trump formally recognized Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara as part of a deal to get Morocco to normalize relations with Israel. But Morocco’s claim on Western Sahara is rejected by the United Nations, the World Court, the African Union and a broad consensus of international legal scholars that consider the region a non-self-governing territory that must be allowed an act of self-determination. This is why no country had formally recognized Morocco’s takeover — until now…
Sudan’s Democratic Revolution is Being Undermined by the United States
By Stephen Zunes, June 20, 2020: Last year’s nonviolent pro-democracy revolution in Sudan which brought down the brutal 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir and the subsequent military junta inspired the world. Few popular uprisings in history faced such extremely difficult circumstances and few displayed the kind of courage, tenacity, and effective strategy by pro-democracy activists which led to their victory. Unfortunately, the United States has been pursuing policies which almost seem designed to destroy Sudan’s fragile democratic experiment…
The Robust Opposition: The Modern History of Israel/Palestine
Video interview with Lauren Steiner, May 19, 2018: Overview of the Zionist project, the wars of 1948, 1967, the first and second Intifada, the various peace talks, the change in Israel over the years making it harder and harder to achieve peace and how any real solution must be precipitated by American Jews pressuring their elected officials.
Analyst Stephen Zunes Looks At The Middle East
WORT, Madison, Wisconsin, May 17, 2018 (Soundcloud, 29 mins.):
This week, mass Palestinian protests at the fences around Gaza have been met with violence from the Israel military. A look beyond the headlines…
In Retrospect: Public Intellectuals and Activists Weigh In on the Tet Offensive 50 Years Later
Truthout January 31, 2018:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive. On January 30, 1968, thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers and their Viet Cong support organized a sweeping attack of multiple cities in South Vietnam. The event is said to have reinforced the United States opposition to the Vietnam War. The following is a compilation of thoughts across a diverse spectrum of academics, activists, organizers and progressive thinkers on the significance of this event in history…
The United States and Israel: An Alliance or a Protection Racket
Fidel Castro left Cuba a green legacy
National Catholic Reporter December 9, 2016
While he no longer held any formal position of power since his resignation as president for health reasons eight years ago, Fidel Castro’s death last month marks the passing of an era. In his nearly 50 years in power, few individuals have had had such a profound influence on a country for good or ill — and Castro left plenty of both.