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.
Category: Palestine
Lecture: Antisemitism in the Pro-Palestinian Movement: What’s Real, What’s Not, and Why it Matters
Lecture at University of San Francisco, Sept. 26, 2024, that critically examines charges of antisemitism in the U.S. pro-Palestinian movement.
Gaza War Prompts Attacks on Academic Freedom
Americans for Middle East Understanding, Sept. 28, 2024:
During the wave of campus protests opposing the US-backed war on Gaza and calling for divestment from Israel, students weren’t the only demonstrators to face arrest; supportive faculty members were also caught up in the crackdown… “We are witnessing a new era of McCarthyism where a House committee is using college presidents and professors for political theater… And Columbia isn’t the only university where faculty feel their academic freedoms are being steadily revoked…
Radio & Podcast: 4 Interviews
- Recent developments in Gaza, the West Bank, and U.S. policy with Kris Welch on KPFA-FM and affiliated stations [9/6/24 starts at 1:06:40]
- On the Iranian missile attacks and what led up to them, for a New York community radio station [10/2/24, 15 min.]
- On Israel’s war on Lebanon for KPFA-FM evening news [9/22/24 starts at the 2:30]
- On the war on Gaza, U.S. policy, and related issues for a northern California radio station [segment starts at 26:20]
Video: 10 Interviews Aug.-Oct. 2024
- Two from an Indian news show:
* On Israel’s war on Lebanon
* On the anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks - Al Jazeera English: Interviewed along with Nicholas Noe and Gideon Levy about the implications of the Israeli assassination of Nasrallah and the ongoing war on Lebanon.
- Three short for San Francisco Bay area network affiliates:
* The Iranian missile attack on Israel and what led things to this point
* Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
* And on Gaza and U.S. policy. - Two appearances on the Santita Jackson Show:
* On escalating violence in the Middle East
* On the vice-presidential debate, along with the latest news from the Middle East - A ten-minute segment of a panel sponsored by the Arab Organization for Human Rights-UK, about the Biden administration and the ceasefire talks, U.S. policy towards Israel/Palestine, and how Harris would likely bring in a slight improvement in U.S. Middle East policy
- A short segment on a Singapore television news show about Israeli protests against Netanyahu and the Gaza War
Democratic Platform Defies International Law on the Middle East
Truthout August 29, 2024
Despite indications Harris will have a better foreign policy than Biden, the Democratic Party’s platform’s segment on the Middle East — written primarily by Biden’s team — is very disappointing…
Interviews: U.S. policy, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon & Kamala Harris for KPFA Pacifica Radio
Dr. Zunes is the guest for three recent KPFA radio interviews:
During the first hour of KPFA’s “Talkies” show with Kris Welch
August 16, 2024 (segment starts at the 9:30 mark); also on
August 25 on KPFA Evening News (starts at 11:45); and earlier
August 11 on recent developments (starts at 2:10).
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)
Interview: As Israel Refuses to End Genocide in Gaza, Threat of War With Hezbollah Looms
Truthout July 2, 2024: By Daniel Falcone with Stephen Zunes and Lawrence Davidson. Also summarized by HeadTopics.com.
For the past eight months, Hezbollah has attacked the northern portion of Israel in an attempt to pull the Israeli army out from Gaza, reports Al Jazeera. Fears of a wider war have prompted international calls to deescalate at the border…
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…
A Move to Out-Maneuver the US Veto to admit the State of Palestine as a UN member
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 21, 2024 (IPS) Inter Press Service, by Thalif Deen, quoting Dr. Stephen Zunes: “It has been U.S. policy since 1990 to withdraw funding from any United Nations agency which grants Palestine member status…'”
Interviews: Middle East,
KPFA Oct. 2023-July 2024
Twelve more interviews on KPFA Evening News aired Sundays on KPFA-FM and Pacifica Radio Network affiliated stations October 7, 2023 through July 2024
- October 8, 2023: The horror of the crimes, why it happened, and the U.S. response (begins just after the four-minute mark)
- Mid-October: The United States has long been an international outlier in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. responsibility in the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process (begins at 12:30)
- January, following the fatal attack on U.S. forces in Jordan: Problems with the ongoing presence of U.S. forces in the Middle East (begins just after the three-minute mark)
- January, following the initial Houthi attacks on the Red Sea and the U.S. bombing of Yemen: The rise of the Houthis, why they are attacking international shipping, and problems with the U.S. military response (starts a little before 14:00)
- February: The resulting humanitarian disaster from an Israeli invasion of Rafah and U.S. acquiescence (begins a little after the four-minute mark)
- March: The reasons for Biden’s strong support for Israel’s war on Gaza despite widespread domestic and international opposition (begins at the 3:30 mark)
- Also March: Moral and legal implications of U.S.-backed Israeli forces attacking civilian-populated areas (starts a little after the 7:30 mark)
- April, following the conflict between Israel and Iran: Analysis, with a special focus on U.S. policy (starts a little after the four-minute mark)
- May: Rhetoric versus the reality in Biden’s policy regarding U.S. arms transfers to Israel and its political impact, as well as his supposed support for Palestinian statehood (begins a little after the nine-minute mark)
- Late May: Double-standards by the U.S. government on recognizing Israeli and Palestinian statehood and question the Biden administration’s support for a two-state solution (starts at the six-minute mark)
- June: How Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza was alienating Democratic voters and threatening his re-election, as well as how the slogan “river to the sea” has been deliberately misinterpreted to discredit pro-Palestinian activists (starts at the seven-minute mark)
- Mid-July: In anticipation of the International Court of Justice ruling on the Israeli occupation as well as related issues regarding U.S. hostility towards the World Court and international law (Five mins. begins at the 13:45 mark)
Parallels Between Today’s Student Activism and Anti-Apartheid Protests
In this Recent 8-min. video Dr. Zunes contrasts response to today’s growing student protests urging divestment from Israel with the successful student protests in the 1980s demanding boycotts and divestment from South Africa, which helped end apartheid there.
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.
Biden Continues to Provide Israel Billions for War Crimes
Truthout May 26, 2024:
Biden’s administration is violating US law by continuing to send military aid to Israel despite Gaza war crimes [and] growing popular opposition…
Biden’s Response to Israel’s ICC Prosecution Is an Attack on International Law
Truthout May 22, 2024:
This marks the first time in US history a sitting president has openly sided with suspected war criminals…
The Chilling Effect of Equating Criticism of Israel to Antisemitism
The Progressive May 17, 2024:
Broadening the federal definition of antisemitism is a disingenuous attempt to quash dissent…
The New Assault on Academic Freedom: Professors across the country are being targeted by the right in order to score political points.
The Progressive May 15, 2024:
During the wave of campus protests opposing the U.S.-backed war on Gaza and calling for divestment from Israel, students weren’t the only ones facing arrest…
Interview: Suppression of Gaza War campus protests, outside agitators charge
“Flashpoints” on KPFA-FM and affiliated stations
(20-minute interview begins at the 13:15 mark):
Dr. Zunes contrasts blatant censorship and violent police suppression of Gaza War campus protests with anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s.
The Crackdown on Campus Protests is a Bipartisan Strategy to Repress Pro-Palestine Speech
The Progressive, May 1, 2024: Unlike apartheid-era South Africa, many universities aren’t even recognizing Israel’s human rights abuses. A wave of sit-ins and encampments have swept college and university campuses… led—as in past anti-war campus protests in 1968—by Columbia University. [source]