War and rumours of war continue this week as the never blood sated Bush administration, with faithful ally Britain in tow, attempt to spin the latest episode with Iran into a full-blown nuclear confrontation. Last month, 15 British sailors and marines were intercepted by the Iranian navy and taken prisoner. The stand-off seemed destined to lead to a broader conflict in the already war-plagued region, until Iran's surprise release of their captives. But the story for war doesn't end there… Heather Wokusch is a freelance journalist and author of, in two volumes, 'The Progressives' Handbook: Get the Facts and Make a Difference Now.' Her prolific journalistic works can also be found at Dissident Voice.org. Heather Wolkusch and the facts on the ground in Iran in the first half.
And; before Iraq, before Afghanistan, before the degradation of the United States, and its willing accomplices to the crimes against humanity now regarded as the norm, there was Palestine. Suffering under the boot of a ruthless, fascist regime, the people there are well-used to the shocking inhumanity revealed in America's invasions and occupations. Before the current president abandoned all notions of law and simple human decency there were the few who fell into the widening cracks in the constitution; but it wasn't this time German Jewry who were the first to fall, but America's Muslims. Sami al-Arian was an early victim of George Bush's homeland warriors; arrested and cast into the Magna Carta defying, legal limbo made too familiar in these last years, al-Arian languishes yet in an American prison near death with little recourse to justice. Charlotte Kates is a lawyer, organizer, and activist with NJ Solidarity – Activists for the Liberation of Palestine, and Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition. She's followed the al-Arian case, and will join us in the second half.
And; Janine Bandcroft will be here to bring us up to speed with some of the good things to do in and around Victoria in the coming week. But first, Heather Wokusch, getting the facts on Iran.
