Podcasts about arab revolution

Amid global protests over the genocide in Gaza, the hypertrophy of digital technology and its colonization of every sphere of human existence contnue to advance, portending the ultimate eclipse of human culture and real life, the death of literacy, and the hegemony of saturation propaganda. While the Arab Revolution of 2011 was facilitated through social media, those same platforms are today being used as conduits for propaganda and disinformation lubricating the reconsolidation of dictatorships. This is all about to get much worse—with propaganda especially getting exponentially more sophisticated—through the advent of artificial intelligence. What is urgently mandated—ultimately, even to be able to effectively oppose genocides and dictatorships—is a revolution of everyday life, reclaiming human reality from digital totalitarianism. The uprising in El Salvador against the mandatory imposition of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 still stands as a glimmer of hope, pointing the potentiality of this kind of revolution—even if the aspiring autocrat Nayib Bukele, who made Bitcoin a national currency, put down the uprising and is now consolidating an authoritarian regime. Bill Weinberg rants against the digital Borg in Episode 242 of the CounterVortex podcast. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 69 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 70!

Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated globally in outrage at Israel's genocidal bombardment of Gaza. In the Middle East in particular, protests have been massive, faced state repression, and evoked memories of the Arab Spring revolutions. In Egypt, for example, protestors marched to Tahrir Square for the first time since 2013. In Jordan, protestors faced regime and security forces preventing them from reaching the border to show solidarity with Palestinians. The liberation of Palestine has long resonated throughout the Middle East and North African region. This connection is deeper than just sympathy: the settler-colonial project of Israel, its backing by US imperialism, and the complicity of the Arab regimes with Zionism reflect on the oppression of the people of the region more broadly. Because of this, one of the long-held slogans of the Palestinian left has been that the road to Jerusalem flows through Cairo, Damascus, and Amman, that Palestinian liberation will have to be achieved through regional revolt and revolution. This panel of revolutionaries from around the region will talk about the inextricable ties between Palestinian liberation and liberation across the region, and its special relevance in this crucial historic moment. Speakers Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist and scholar-activist, currently based in Germany. He's also a member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists, and was among the organizers of the 2011 uprising in Egypt. Soheir Asaad is a Palestinian feminist and political organizer and a human rights advocate. She received a Master's degree in international human rights law from the University of Notre Dame (US). Soheir is the advocacy team member of Rawa, for liberatory, resilient Palestinian community work. She is also the co-director of the “Funding Freedom” project. Previously, Soheir worked in legal researcher and international advocacy in Palestinian and regional human rights organizations. Dr. Banah Ghadbian (they/them) holds a Phd in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, San Diego. Their PhD dissertation, "Ululating from the Underground: Syrian Women's Protests, Performances, and Pedagogies" looked at the ways women and children in Syria utilize theatre, protest, graffiti, and freedom school spaces in the Syrian Revolution. Dr. G has taught using theatre and social justice curricula at the Syrian Women's Association in Amman, Jordan and with displaced Syrian and Palestinian youth in the Arab Youth Collective of San Diego, among many other places. Dr. G holds a masters in Ethnic Studies and a BA in in Comparative Women's Studies and Sociology. Banah is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Women's Studies at Spelman College where they also serve as faculty advisor for the Students for Justice in Palestine. Banah is a member of Palestinian Feminist Collective. ————————————————————— This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books and is part of Until Liberation: A Series for Palestine by Haymarket Books cosponsored by Palestinian American Organizations Network, Mondoweiss, Spectre, Dissenters, Tempest, Palestine Deep Dive, The New Arab, and more. Watch the live event recording: https://youtube.com/live/FYFWQjjm7ac Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

In Episode 165 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes the simultaneous 12th aniversary of the start of both the NATO intervention in Libya and the Syrian revolution. The NATO intervention was at root a bid to control the political trajectory of the Arab Revolution, and bring about a Thermidor in which Western-backed technocrats would be ascendant. The Syrian people seized back the initiative with their popular uprising against the Bashar Assad dictatorship. But, following the precedent set in Libya, the Great Powers have intervened, seeking to impose their own order—over the heads of the Syrian people. This time, however, the principal interventionist power has not been the West seeking to coopt the revolution, but Russia seeking to prop up the genocidal ancien régime. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 52 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 53!

Auf den arabischen Frühling folgte der arabische Winter. In seinem neuen Buch ' Repression und Rebellion. Arabische Revolution - was nun?' liefert der deutsch-ägyptische Journalist Karim El-Gawhary im lebendigen Wechsel von Reportagen und Analysen beides: detaillierte Informationen über das Enstehen und die Wirklichkeit der repressiven arabischen Autokratien während der letzten 10 Jahre und über die neuen Rebellionen in der arabischen Welt im Sudan, Irak, Lybanon und Algerien, die Arabellion 2.0. Kurz: die arabische Revolution geht weiter - ' the Arab Revolution is not over' . Rezension von Anselm Weidner. Verlag Kremayr & Scherlau ISBN 978-3-218-01232-4 224 Seiten 24 Euro

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution,” and his most recent publication is “Red Star Over the Third World.”

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution,” and his most recent publication is “Red Star Over the Third World.”Economies around the world are taking an unprecedented hit from the coronavirus pandemic. And third world economies are particularly hard hit. In many cases, poor countries turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance. But the IMF, along with the World Bank, usually impose crushing austerity measures on weak economies, making it even tougher for them to rebound. That’s happening right now--in the midst of the pandemic. The FBI, in a recent court filing, has accidentally revealed the name of an official in the Saudi Embassy in Washington who allegedly dealt directly with the 9/11 hijackers. Saudi Islamic Affairs attache Musaed al-Jarrah, who went on to serve in Morocco and Malaysia, met personally with two middlemen to provide funds and an apartment for the hijackers when they were in Los Angeles. The FBI, including former directors Robert Mueller and James Comey, worked for years to keep the name a secret. Ali al-Ahmed, the Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, joins the show. Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Sputnik news analysts Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu wants the annexation to move forward before US elections because he has the support of the Trump Administration and the US evangelical movement. Meanwhile, three United Nations officials are calling on Israel to release Palestinian children in Israeli prisons. Those children are at a much higher risk of coronavirus infection, which is sweeping through prisons in the country. Tamara Nassar, associate editor of Electronic Intifada, joins the show. Brazil yesterday suffered its deadliest day yet from the coronavirus, with 881 confirmed deaths in 24 hours and nearly 178,000 confirmed cases. President Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized heavily for not taking the disease seriously as it sweeps through poor neighborhoods, prisons, and, scientists worry, through the indigenous population. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is under increasing political pressure because of multiple corruption cases against friends, political supporters, and family members. Aline Piva, a journalist and a member of Brazilians for Democracy and Social Justice, joins Brian and John. Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution,” and his most recent publication is “Red Star Over the Third World.”The Coronavirus pandemic has set off a global economic catastrophe of historic proportions, shaking the very foundations of capitalism. The world is scrambling to address the profound health and economic fallout and discontent is rising. Meanwhile, many are looking to the model set by the Indian state of Kerala as an example of a humane, people-first approach to the crisis. Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show. Loud & Clear’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective, including the coronavirus aid bill that congress is working on. Sputnik news analysts Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show. A regular Thursday segment deals with the ongoing militarization of space. As the US continues to withdraw from international arms treaties, will the weaponization and militarization of space bring the world closer to catastrophe? Brian and John speak with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and the host of a nationally aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues, and with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books and the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution” and his most recent publication is “Red Star Over the Third World.”2019 may go down in history as the year of the protest. Demonstrators for political change took to the streets in marches that often turned violent in places as disparate as France, Iraq, Chile, Haiti, Lebanon, and Ecuador. The demands were largely for political and economic reform, and the deaths and injuries coming out of these protests numbered in the tens of thousands. The improvement in relations between North Korea and the United States have stalled, as North Korean leaders have grown frustrated by an increasingly neoconservative foreign policy coming from the US and by a lack of sanctions relief. Washington, meanwhile, is angry that the North Koreans appear unwilling to give up their nuclear weapons program. And the North Koreans are promising a “Christmas present”for Washington. Emanuel Pastreich, founder and director of The Asia Institute, a pan-Asian think tank, and Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and a member of the Korean Peace Network, join the show. We’re nearing the end of 2019, but there’s no end in sight for the war in Syria. Turkey crossed the border to attack Syria’s Kurds this year, US troops entered the country, pulled back, and then moved to the oil fields, purportedly to “protect” them. And Syria’s government, with Russian help, worked to take control of the countryside from fundamentalist groups. Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of refugees continued to flee the country. Brian and John speak with Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, and Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement. Today’s regular segment that airs every Tuesday is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society. Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly; Nathalie Hrizi, an educator, a political activist, and the editor of Breaking the Chains, a women’s magazine; and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.

In Episode 19 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses the urgent need for solidarity with Idlib, the last remaining stronghold of the Syrian Revolution, and looks at heroic examples of the civil resustance there, which is standing up the Assad regime and jihadists alike -- such as Rania Kisar, who has been running schools and other civil institutions; and Radio Fresh, which is continuing to broadcast in defiance of threats and censorship from the jihadists. The weekly Friday demonstrations in Idlib continue to keep alive the spirit of the 2011 Arab Revolution, demanding a democratic future for Syria. In a victory for the forces organizing in solidarity with Idlib around the world, the long-planned Assad regime invasion of the opposition-held province has been postponed (at least) in a deal negotiated by Russia and Turkey, buying time for the survival of the revolution. But those who stand in solidarity with Idlib in New York City have themselves been threatened and physically attacked by followers of sectarian pseudo-left factions that support the genocidal Assad regime. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. Music: "Idlib (The Revolution Lives)" by Dylan Connor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5I9Bj2ouLk Production by Chris Rywalt We are asking listeners to donate just $1 per episode via Patreon. A total of $30 per episode would cover our costs for engineering and producing. We are currently up to $15. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex New episodes will be produced every two weeks. We need your support.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by former British Ambassador to Syria Peter Ford and Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement.Russian military leaders said today that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ready to launch a phased offensive to retake Idlib, which both the Russians and Syrians called “a pocket of terrorism” because of the foreign fighters that are based there. The Trump Administration is sending signals that it is preparing for a possible U.S. military operation inside Syria. The dangers of a wider war are presented just at the moment that the Syrian government seems to be on the verge of winning a final victory against armed forces aligned with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. The hosts discuss coal prices going up in Europe as China uses more electricity, and the burning of natural gas, a shale drilling byproduct, in Texas in amounts that could fuel whole U.S. states. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. Amidst protests, the Senate Judiciary Committee today held hearings on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court. Democrats objected before the hearing began because they have been denied access to documents they requested, and have been fundraising on preventing Kavanagh from being confirmed—but meanwhile Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has agree to expedited approval for 15 of Trump’s other judge nominees. Brian and John speak with Ariel Gold, a peace activist and the national co-director of Code Pink, and an organizer and participant in today’s protests. General John Nicholson, the outgoing commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, gave a farewell speech in Kabul over the weekend as he prepared to return to the US and retire. Unlike any of his predecessors, Nicholson called for an end to the war, an end to intercommunal violence, and an end to foreign intervention in the country. Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, the scholar-in-residence and director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies, joins the show. The New York Times revealed over the weekend that Oleg Deripaska, a prominent Russian billionaire, was repeatedly approached by the FBI between 2014 and 2016 and pressed to act as an informant. The FBI initially was looking for information on Russian organized crime. Later, they wanted information on Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. But Deripaska declined each approach. Nonetheless, he has been drawn in to the Russia collusion investigation, and he finds himself with powerful enemies in Congress. Peter Lavelle, host of RT’s flagship program CrossTalk, joins Brian and John. Yesterday was Labor Day, the day set aside to honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. It is a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country. But organized labor is facing acute challenges thanks to recent court decisions. What do these decisions mean for the future of organized labor? Peter Knowlton, the president of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, joins the show.Brazil’s political crisis has entered a new stage with the country’s top electoral court denying former president Lula—the most popular candidate by far—a spot on the ballot for the country’s upcoming presidential election. Meanwhile, outrage is sweeping the country in the aftermath of a fire that destroyed much of the country’s most prominent museum—an apparent consequence of years of underfunding. Brian and John speak with Vijay Prashad, director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, chief editor of LeftWord Books, and the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution” and “Red Star Over the Third World.”

Samir Amin wrote in 2016 that: “Partial awareness emerges from particular struggles, for example, from the struggles of peasants or women for the defense of human commons or the struggle for respect of popular sovereignty. The progress of the convergence of these particular types of awareness would make it possible to advance towards the formulation of new ways to surpass capitalism. But note…increased awareness will not happen through successive adaptations to the requirements of capitalist accumulation, but through awareness of the necessity of breaking with those requirements. The most enlightened segments of the movement should not isolate themselves by brandishing their disdain for others. Rather, they should involve themselves in all struggles in order to help the others to advance their understanding.” According to John Bellamy Foster in his Monthly Review article titled, Samir Amin at 80: An Introduction and Tribute, Amin's work, as wide-ranging as it is, can be succinctly described in terms of the dual designation of the The Law of Value and Historical Materialism. For Amin, this basic division of Marxist theory is not to be denied. However, what makes Amin's work vital and innovative is his insistence that the economic laws of capitalism, summed up by the law of value, are subordinate to the laws of historical materialism. Economic science, while indispensable, cannot explain at the highest level of abstraction, as in mathematical equations, the full reality of capitalism and imperialism, since it cannot account either for the historical origins of the system itself, or for the nature of the class struggle. Nor indeed can it present in a strictly determinant fashion the contemporary historical manifestation of the law of value, expressed as the theory of “globalized value,” which requires recognition of such factors as monopoly power and unequal exchange. At best we can see value relations as historically “transformed” in ways that are less determinant than in the abstract models based on a freely competitive economy, but which are still subject to meaningful political-economic analysis. The rise of monopoly capital and imperialism from the late nineteenth century on consolidated a system of “apartheid on a world scale” dividing the affluent countries of the North from those of the South. Today, Africa World Now Project will present a 2013 lecture that Samir Amin gave at School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London as part of the series "Samir Amin: Six Decades of Development Debate" Samir Amin was born in Cairo in 1931 and was educated at the Lycee Francais there. He gained a Ph.D. in Political Economy in Paris (1957), as well as degrees from the Institut de Statistiques and from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques. He then returned home where he was attached to the planning bodies of Nasser's regime. He left Egypt in 1960 to work with the Ministry of Planning of the newly independent Mali (1960-1963), and following this, he commenced an academic career. He has held the position of full professor in France since 1966 and was for ten years (1970-1980) the director of the U.N. African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (in Dakar). Since 1980 he was directing the African Office of the Third World Forum, an international non-governmental association for research and debate. He is author of many books, which include, but are not limited to, Accumulation on a World Scale: A Critique of the Theory of Underdevelopment; Unequal Development: An Essay on the Social Formations of Peripheral Capitalism; Maldevelopment: Anatomy of a Global Failure; The People's Spring: The Future of the Arab Revolution

In Episode 16 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses how Berbers, Palestinians, Sahrawi Arabs and other subjugated peoples of the Middle East and North Africa are pitted against each other by the Great Game of nation-states. Berbers in Morocco and Palestinians in the Occupied Territories face identical issues of cultural erasure, yet Moroccan support for the Palestinians and retaliatory Israeli support for the Berbers constitute an obstacle to solidarity. The Sahrawi Arabs are meanwhile fighting for their independence from Morocco in their occupied territory of Western Sahara. But the Arab-nationalist ideology of their leadership is viewed with suspicion by the territory's Berbers—leading to Arab-Berber ethnic tensions in Morocco. Algeria, Morocco's regional rival, is backing the Sahrawi struggle, while denying cultural rights to its own Berber population. But there are also signs of hope. Arabs and Berbers were united in the 2011 Arab Revolution protests in Morocco, and greater Berber cultural rights were a part of the constitutional reform won by those protests. Algeria, facing resurgent Berber protests, adopted a similar constitutional reform in 2016, and has taken other measures to expand recognition of Berber cultural rights. And the new protest wave in Morocco's Rif Mountains over the past year has united Arab and Berber. These developments point to hope for the subaltern peoples of MENA to overcome the divide-and-rule game and build solidarity. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. Music: "Asirem" by Ferhat Mehenni http://ferhat-mehenni.com/Asirem.html Production by Chris Rywalt We are asking listeners to donate just $1 per episode via Patreon. A total of $30 per episode would cover our costs for engineering and producing. We are currently up to $15. New episodes will be produced every two weeks. We need your support.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Attack Iran.”The trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort begins today in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Manafort is charged with 18 counts of felony bank fraud and tax evasion. The trial is expected to take three weeks and then he will face additional felony charges in a federal court in Washington, DC. President Trump said yesterday that he would meet Iranian leaders without preconditions “whenever they want.” The comments marked an abrupt about-face in Trump’s Iran policy and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walked the comment back. The Iranian government rejected the notion of a meeting. Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran, joins the show. Tuesday’s weekly series, False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey, covers a proposed tax cut for the wealthy today. Brian and John speak with Daniel Sankey, a financial policy analyst. In a classified leak to the Washington Post, US intelligence officials say that North Korea is constructing new missiles at a factory that produced the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States. Is North Korea rearming or is the intelligence community trying to kill the warming of relations between the two countries? Author and professor Tim Beal, whose most recent book is “Crisis in Korea,” joins the show. British journalist Robert Fisk recently concluded an investigative report on weapons deliveries to belligerents in Syria, including ISIS and al-Qaeda. He found that many of the weapons, including missiles and rockets, were made by US defense contractors and sold to NATO and friendly countries in the region. They were then sent to Syria in violation of end user agreements. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria, joins Brian and John. Puerto Rico’s government last night reached a deal with a bondholder group to restructure more than a third of the $9 billion debt owed by the island’s electrical utility, Prepa, as it moves toward privatization. Economists say the deal, while helping Puerto Rico in the short term, will likely lead to an overall increase in the rates of interest poor cities, states, and territories must pay on bonds. Dr. Adriana Garriga-López, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Kalamazoo College, joins the show.President Trump yesterday lashed out at the billionaire Koch brothers, two of the Republican Party’s most prolific fundraisers, calling them “a total joke” and saying that he never sought their support because he didn’t need their money or their bad ideas. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said the outburst points to Trump’s destruction of the Republican Party. Is the president really provoking a fight within his own base or is it a tactic? Brian and John speak with Eugene Puryear, the host of Sputnik Radio’s By Any Means Necessary, which you can hear Monday through Friday from 2:00-4:00 pm.The US military’s Africa Command, or AFRICOM, which is based in Germany, announced yesterday that it had begun deploying armed drones to Niger earlier this year. Niger agreed to the request as part of its joint counterterrorism work with the US. But why did it take so long to release the information? And why is AFRICOM nowhere near Africa? Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, and the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution” and “Red Star Over the Third World,” joins the show.

In Episode 12 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg pays homage to the martyred Algerian Berber singer and songrwiter Lounes Matoub on the 20th anniversary of his assassination. It remains unclear to this day if Matoub was killed by agents of the Algerian state or militants of the Islamist opposition -- as both were equally opposed to the Berber cultural renaissance that he represented. The Berbers, or Imazighen (singular: Amazigh), are the indigenous people of North Africa, whose language and culture have been suppressed to varying degrees by Arab-dominated regimes from Morocco to Libya. The 1980 "Berber Spring" in the Kabylia region of Algeria was key to Matoub's politicization, and his assassination was followed by a second round of "Berber Spring" protests in 2001. This presaged the international Arab Revolution that broke out a decade later -- which in North Africa was really also a Berber Revolution. The 2011 protests and uprisings resulted in advances for Berber cultural rights and autonomy in Algeria, Morocco and Libya alike -- a sign of hope amid the current atmosphere of counter-revolution and reaction throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. Music: In Memory of a Hero by Moh Alileche http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/malileche-hero?song=4 Production by Chris Rywalt We are asking listeners to donate just $1 per episode via Patreon. A total of $30 per episode would cover our costs for engineering and producing. We are currently up to $15. New episodes will be produced every two weeks. We need your support.

How radical reforms in Saudi Arabia are changing the Gulf and the wider Arab world. And in Turkey will President Recep Tayyip Erdogan be re-elected? Also, Anne McElvoy discusses free speech with comedian Corinne Fisher. Christopher Lockwood hosts Music by Chris Zabriskie “Divider” (CC by 4.0 UK) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Vijay Prashad, the Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books. He is the author—most recently—of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution” and “Red Star Over the Third World.”The Trump Administration today announced stiff new tariffs on steel and aluminum produced by three of the country’s biggest trading partners—Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, all of which vowed to retaliate. The decision will likely raise prices on a wide array of products for Americans and may presage a similar move soon against China. On the regular Thursday series “Criminal Injustice,” about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country, the hosts discuss a New Hampshire bill eradicating the death penalty that the governor vetoes, citing police and victims. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure. The European Court of Human Rights has found that both Lithuania and Romania violated the EU’s prohibition on torture. The two countries were found to have violated the rights of terror suspects who were tortured in CIA-operated black sites that were set up during the Bush administration. Brian and John speak with Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst turned political activist and journalist. The Virginia state senate approved a bill yesterday expanding Medicaid coverage to 400,000 low-income residents, putting an end to years of Republican opposition. The state assembly had already approved the measure, and Governor Ralph Northam said he would sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk. Leo Cuello, an attorney and the director of health policy for the National Health Law Program, joins the show. The hosts continue the discussion on electronic monitoring on recently released prisoners. Electronic monitoring is a popular government alternative to prison, but it discriminates against the poor, who simply can’t afford to pay for the service. And if they don’t pay, they go right back to prison. James Kilgore, a research scholar at the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) who also focuses on electronic monitoring and supervision at ChallengingECarceration.org, wrote the book “Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People’s Guide to the Key Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time,” and spent six-and-a-half years in federal and state prisons, joins Brian and John. President Trump today pardoned conservative political commentator Dinesh D’Souza who was convicted in 2014 of violating campaign finance laws. Trump said that D’Souza was “treated very unfairly by our government.” The move was applauded by conservatives on Capitol Hill. He is also reportedly considering a pardon for Martha Stewart and a commutation for Rod Blagojevich. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, joins the show.Karl Marx famously wrote that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then as farce. The Cold War was a tragedy. The new Cold War is playing out as farce. That’s the thesis of Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov in his new book, “The Russians are Coming, Again” which you can get from Monthly Review Press. Brian and John speak with Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, an author and assistant professor of American history at the University of Tulsa.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and Walter Smolarek are joined by Vijay Prashad, Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, as well as author of the book, The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution. 50 years ago today, Edgar Ray Killen, the main organizer of the infamous 1964 murders of civil rights activists Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman was acquitted by an all-white jury. We’ll take an in-depth look at “Mississippi Burning” and the heroic battle against Jim Crow apartheid with Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of Race to Revolution: The U.S. and Cuba During Slavery and Jim Crow. Continuing its assault on both reproductive and immigrant rights, lawyers for the Trump administration were in court today trying to deny a 17-year old undocumented immigrant who is being held in a detention center the right to an abortion. Samantha Herrera, an organizer for reproductive and economic justice along the Texas-Mexico border discusses this issue. Next, The Trump administration has reversed course on the Murray-Alexander healthcare bill, demanding the rollback of key components of the Affordable Care Act in return for the White House’s support. Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, joins the show. On the heels of its embarrassing defeat in last weekend’s regional elections, the Venezuelan opposition is pushing for more international pressure on their own country, but remain divided over recognizing the legitimacy of the vote. Arnold August, lecturer, journalist and author of the new book Cuba-US Relations: Obama and Beyond, joins Brian and Walter. Finally, Jeremy Corbyn’s meeting with lead European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has heaped even more pressure on the government of British Prime Minister Theresa May. Alexander Mercouris, editor-in-chief of The Duran, discusses the developments in negotiations.

I talk with Vijay Prashad about his book, Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution, with a particular focus on the Syria war and the peace process in Astana.

Vijay Prashad is Professor of International Studies at Trinity College in Hartford CT. He is the author of over twenty books, most recently The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution. He reports regularly for Frontline and The Hindu (India), BirGün (Turkey) and Alternet (United States). He is the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books (New Delhi). We discuss his recent articles on George W. Bush, Trump, Syria, Iraq, and attacks on U.S. immigrants.

Prashad's book The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution aims to address where the Arab world is heading. In early 2011, uprisings swept across northern Africa and the Middle East. The toppling of the Ben Ali government in Tunisia quickly gave way to mass protests in Egypt that brought about the ouster of the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak government after 30 years in power. But the Arab Spring soon turned to winter, as NATO intervened in Libya to topple the Muammar Gaddafi government and the U.S., western and Gulf states armed rebels in Syria.

In analyzing the Arab Revolution taking place in neighboring countries, terrorism expert Dr. Boaz Ganor said that the U.S. turned a cold shoulder to Egypt , a crucial ally, as President Hosni Mubarak's government was overthrown in a popular uprising, said terrorism expert Dr. Boaz Ganor. He advocated creating a type of Marshall Plan for the new regimes being established across the Arab world. Additionally, Israel and its neighbors, as well as the Palestinian Authority have more common interests than ever before, he said.

Verily never will Allah change a condition of a people until they change what is within themselves [Surah Ra'd 13:11] One year has past since the Muslims of Tunisia sparked the Arab Revolution after decades of living under oppression via the hands of Men with black hearts... The Muslim Ummah has come out in their droves to change the situation of their lands and they will not stop until this change has occurred as we can see in Egypt and Syria... Over thousands have perished in this cause and May Allah grant them the highest Jannah. Come and join MoD in a discussion about how the Arab Revolutions and the courage of the Muslims highlight the Signs of Victory for this Ummah...  Click on image for more details Click here to watch this talk (video)Click here to listen to this talk (audio)

Dr Luca Anceschi (Politics, La Trobe University) on the political turmoil in the Middle East. Copyright 2011 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.

Socio-Political Implications for the Middle East and Beyond. Dr Benjamin Isakhan, a researcher at the Centre for Comparative Social Research, and a member of the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin discusses an upcoming conference providing an insight into Arab Revolutions and the impact for future world relations.