Talking Human Rights

In this episode, we are joined by Adam Shapiro of the organization Front Line Defenders to discuss the situation of human rights defenders at risk. We ask "What kind of challenges do human rights defenders face?" 'What kinds of tactics are used to suppress their human rights activities?" And finally, "What can we do to help them?"

In this episode, Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis joins us once again, this time to discuss why the situation in Israel/Palestine matters. We ask, "How does militarism in Israel/Palestine impact the rest of the Middle East and the rest of the world?" For American listeners we ask, "Does violence and injustice in Israel/Palestine provoke violence and injustice here in America (and vis versa)?" Finally, "What kind of positive impact can someone have on this situation, even from far away?"

In this episode, we call upon Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis to answer our most persistent audience questions stemming from our recent series set in the occupied West Bank. We ask, and she answers, questions like "Why do you call what is happening in this part of the world an occupation? What makes it an occupation and not something else?"

In our final episode of the series, we go deeper into Issa's trial before a Palestinian Authority court, where he stands charged with violating a controversial and highly restrictive "Electronic Crimes" law for no more than a Facebook post criticizing the Palestinian Authority for its treatment of a journalist. This episode takes us deeper into questions of what it means to live under military occupation, and what it means when a local caretaker government -- in this case the Palestinian Authority -- is required to collaborate and cooperate with the occupying military, rather than look after the millions of people it nominally represents. We discuss the strict limitations on the power of the Palestinian Authority; the many ways its cooperation is expected and enforced from the outside; and the demoralizing effects this has on the Palestinian people.

Join us as we go deeper into the case of Issa Amro before an Israeli military court, and deeper into the two very different sets of laws at work in the West Bank. We will discuss Israeli civil law, to which Israeli settlers are party as citizens of Israel; and we will discuss Israeli military law, to which Palestinians are subjected, as non-citizens living under military occupation. According to this military law, it is illegal to organize more than ten people in a political meeting of any kind without first obtaining permission from the occupying military (an impossible task). It is illegal to publish political materials, or to seek to influence one's people, without first gaining the approval of the military. In fact, this system of military law is so restrictive that it could, in the blink of an eye, become illegal to stand on the street where you live. Palestinians have called the presence of two legal systems for two peoples who occupy the same geographic space (and in the case of Hebron, occupy the same city) an "apartheid system." In this episode, we explore why, and discuss the incredible injustice and cruelty that results when one group of people is given heightened access to law, and to law enforcement; and another group experiences law only as a system of oppression.

In this episode, we explore Issa Amro's development as a non-violent activist, from his childhood spent living under intense military occupation in the West Bank city of Hebron; to his first actions as a university student during the second intifada; to the intense targeting he faces today on account of his activism. Over the past 15 years, Issa has worked to establish a culture of non-violence in Hebron and beyond -- training his fellow Palestinians to document human rights violations, to reclaim Palestinian space for community use, and to demonstrate non-violently in the face of overwhelming violence and oppression. Beginning in 2010, Issa has been identified as a "targeted activist" -- targeted with arrests, detentions, beatings, and intimidation. This targeting continues today in the form of two ongoing trials -- one before an Israeli military court, and the other before a Palestinian Authority court. In this episode, Issa speaks on the impacts of this targeting on himself, on his fellow activists, and on the movement for justice in Palestine.

By the time you hear this episode, Palestinian activist Issa Amro, who as of September 2019 faces trial before an Israeli military court and a Palestinian Authority court, may be behind bars. Or perhaps he will be exonerated, as he is, after all, on trial in both cases for exercising his basic freedoms of assembly and speech. We will follow Issa's cases closely in this series, but before we delve into every twist and turn, we must explore the overarching context, which will remain the same even if the status of his case changes. We must explore the context of military occupation of the West Bank...

Deeper into the efforts of activists and engineers to make technology secure and free for all. We discuss communications protocols, free software, and the barriers that stand in the way of those researching the inner workings of technology in the public interest. Our guest is Daniel Kahn Gillmor, senior staff technologist at the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Exploring the human rights impacts of modern technology, from Facebook to Amazon Alexa to government spying operations. Our focus here is not on "how you can protect yourself," but on the technological changes needed to secure privacy and freedom for all. Our guest is Daniel Kahn Gillmor (aka "dkg"), senior staff technologist at the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Discussing the vital contributions of people of African descent to human rights as we know them. Our guest is Christina-Proenza Coles, author of "American Founders: How People of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World."

A crucial update on Congressional efforts to stop the devastating war and blockade in Yemen. Our guest is Kate Gould, Legislative Director of Middle East Policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Advocates for Middle East peace, along with key members of the U.S. Congress, have been working steadily to block weapons sales to Saudi Arabia; to invoke the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to end military support of the war in Yemen; and to reassert the power of Congress to legislate on these matters. Their efforts are finally beginning to pay off in the US Congress, but it will take unrelenting pressure from constituents if millions of Yemenis are to be set free from starvation, misery, and death. Please join us.

Since March of 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a devastating attack on its neighbor to the south, Yemen – a war made possible by military, logistical, and intelligence support from the United States. This attack, and the accompanying blockade, has led to the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today, leaving millions on the brink of starvation and thousands dead and dying from preventable diseases. What can be done to stop this devastation? Enter our guest, Kate Gould, who in her capacity as Legislative Director for Middle East Policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (the Quaker lobby) has been at the forefront of efforts to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen, working with members of the U.S. Congress and their constituents to stop arms sales and to end all US military involvement in this devastating war.