Sufi Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, plus a Report from South Africa

Listen to "Sufi Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, plus a Report from South Africa"

A report from the South African province of Kwa Zulu Natal where climate change is a day-to-day reality.

Robert Abdul Hayy Darr discusses the core spiritual practices of the Sufi.

Nadia Tarzi on Afghanistan's Cultural and Archaeological Heritage

Listen to "Nadia Tarzi on Afghanistan's Cultural and Archaeological Heritage"

Nadia Tarzi Founder & Executive Director, of Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology and daughter of Dr. Zemaryalai Tarzi who is excavating the reclining Buddas in the Bamyan Valley. Afghanistan is the most looted country in the world today, its antiquities disappearing before scientists even have a chance to record what it is the world community is losing.

Further Conversation about Afghanistan with Robert Abdul Hayy Darr

Listen to "Further Conversation about Afghanistan with Robert Abdul Hayy Darr"

Author and translator, Robert Abdul Hayy Darr broadens the conversation about Afghanistan with music and poetry and begins an ongoing conversation about Sufism. Raising Sand Radio will continue this conversation over the next weeks.

Josh Ruxin on HIV/AIDS and Beverly Ortiz on the Ohlone

Listen to Josh Ruxin on HIV/AIDS and Beverly Ortiz on the Ohlone


December 1 is World AIDS DAY and we talk with Josh Ruxin of Director of the Access Project for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at Columbia University. He currently lives in Rwanda.

Today, we begin an ongoing series about indigenous people around the world. The series starts withe San Francisco Bay Area native people, the Ohlone and naturalist Beverly Ortiz discusses local customs and languages.

On November 25, 2009 the Obama Administration announced that it would not join the treaty signed by 158 other countries to ban landmines. Let us ensure the Obama Administration is unable to sink the Convention on Cluster Munitions: www.stopclustermunitions.org

Israel, Iraq and the Environment & Contemporary Vietnamese Art

Listen to "Israel and Iraq and the Environment and Contemporary Vietnamese Art"


Hannah Schafer of Israel's Zalul Environmental Organization discusses water pollution in Israel.

We examine the escalating rise of malformed babies born in Fallujah as well as the burn pits on Balad Airbase used to incinerate all kinds of waste.

The Meet Vietnam exhibition came to San Francisco and curator Judith Hughes Day discusses the collection.

Listen to Susan Kopelman in Ramallah on The Politics of Water and Medical Care in Israel and Palestine.

Robert Darr on Afghanistan

Listen to "Robert Darr on Afghanistan"

Robert Darr has traveled to and from Afghanistan for thirty years and speaks the local languages. His perspective is based on, as we say, "facts on the ground"...the actual, human, day-to-day facts, not those sold by the mindset who brought Afghanistan the Durand Line. Nor the mindset that claims to bring western-style democracy to a region that has had its own style of indigenous democratic process for centuries.

Of Veterans and Volunteers

Listen to "Of Veterans and Volunteers"

In recognition of our war veterans and Veterans Day we air four perspectives: President of Veterans for Peace Mike Ferner, Vice President Kathy Marshman of Veterans of Modern Warfare and the Community based Warrior Transition Program, and J.C. Smith of Nashville Tennessee's Operation Stand-down. We also air a civilian view with author, photographer, and concerned citizen Jim Lommasson.

Read Max Cleland's op ed in the NY Times.

Learn more about Jim Lammasson's work at his blog.

Read radio host's article "Of Veterans and Volunteers" in CounterPunch.

Author Alice Rothchid on understanding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and Dr. Bolte Taylor on the brain and peace

Listen to "Author Alice Rothchid on understanding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and Dr. Bolte Taylor on the brain and peace"

Alice Rothchild, author of Broken Promises, Broken Dreams, is a medical doctor whose contribution to the very first edition of the classic Our Bodies, Ourselves, brought her to study the health care system and its relationship to political and social environments. She then turned much of her non-medical focus to understanding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and its relationship to US foreign policy and American Jewry. She co-chairs American Jews for a Just Peace, Health and Human Rights Project.

Also, a remarkable TED presentation by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, whose specialty is the postmortem investigation of the human brain as it relates to schizophrenia and severe mental illnesses. In 1996 Dr. Taylor suffered a stroke and, 8 years later she shares what she learned from that experience and why peace is possible.

Annual Peace Cycle Finishes in Jerusalem: Laura Abraham and George Rishmawi

Listen to "Annual Peace Cycle Finishes in Jerusalem: Laura Abraham and George Rishmawi"

Laura Abraham of the Peace Cycle wraps up another successful bicycle trip for peace in Israel and the West Bank. We also talk with a representative of one of the tour sponsors, George Rishwami of the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies located just outside Jerusalem.

A clip of former Israeli prime minister Olmert accused of war crimes in San Francisco.

Voices from the 350 events and Ban Ki Moon on the anniversary of the UN Charter.

David Boyajian on Armenia and Vivien Sansour, Palestinian poet

Listen to "David Boyajian on Armenia and Vivien Sansour, Palestinian poet"

David Boyajian is an on Armenia American writer and activist commenting on the recent protocols signed - not yet ratified - between Turkey and Armenia. He reviews the Caucuses and Caspian region and the geopolitics behind US, USSR, EU, and NATO interest in the region as well why Armenians around the world are outraged by the protocols.

Vivien Sansour is a poet, theater director, and activist who shares her poetry and as well as what stimulates her to write, create, and act for justice.

Dahr Jamail and Susan Galleymore on War and Resistance

Listen to "Dahr Jamail and Susan Galleymore on War and Resistance"

Dahr Jamail is author of The Will to Resist published in 2009 by Haymarket Press and Susan Galleymore is author of Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror, published in 2009 by Pluto Press.

Both Dahr Jamail and Susan Galleymore presented at the University of Idaho in Moscow Idaho. This show airs the main event and includes portions of the Q & A session.

If anyone is in doubt that The Global War on Terror is a mechanism and a tool to force open trade and markets for corporate profiteers should look to VP Joe Biden's recent trip to Iraq on behalf of corporate interests. There, VP Biden urged Nouri Al-Maliki to “resist the temptation to demand hefty payments from the international oil companies as the price for doing business with the new Iraq....it's in the interest of every Iraqi to accept a smaller piece of a much bigger pie.”
One wonders why the corporate interests he represents are not willing to "accept a smaller piece of a much bigger pie.”"

Lisa Sullivan on School of the Americas and Honduras

Listen to "Lisa Sullivan on School of the Americas and Honduras"

Lisa Sullivan is a community organizer originally from Virginia who has spent most of her life working in Venezuela. She presents her story at Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. and talks about how she came to be involved with the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW).

Lisa Sullivan goes into detail about how SOA trains Latin American military personnel and how many of these trainees end up conducting coups in their own countries.

Learn how you can get involved in SOAW at the annual gathering at Ft. Benning, GA in November.

Daniel Volman on AFRICOM

Listen to "Daniel Volman on AFRICOM"

Daniel Volman, Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC goes deep into AFRICOM, what it is and why African countries don't want it based on their sovereign territory.
With more than 30 years studying security policy toward Africa and U.S. military activities in Africa Daniel Volman discusses AFRICOM and US policy directions in Africa.

Michael Parenti on the "Melting Pot " and IAVA on the New GI Bill

Listen to "Michael Parenti on the "Melting Pot " and IAVA on the New GI"

The first segment (28 minutes) of our show today features Dr Michael Parenti discussing assimilation and acculturation and the concept of ‘the melting pot’ in the United States.

This is followed by Patrick Campbell the Chief Legislative Counsel for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America – that is IAVA – presenting information on the New GI Bill, also called the post 9/11 GI Bill. If you are a veteran or family of a veteran, you’ll want to hear what Campbell has to say about the new bill.

NOTE: We're looking for an energetic and creative producer. Email susan@raisingsandradio.org if you are interested.

Former Iraqi Ambassador Dr. Amin on the Lead up to War

Listen to "Former Iraqi Ambassador Dr. Amin on the Lead up to War"

Dr. Mudhaffar Al-Amin was Iraq's ambassador to Berlin during 1990 and 1991 and to London from 1999 to the 2003 invasion and occupation of his country.

Dr. Amin, who elected to retire his ambassadorship rather than continue with the the Bremer-led Coalition Provisional Authority, speaks frankly of the events leading up to the war and occupation of his country.

Also, a brief look at the International Criminal Court.

Labor Day with Blues and Jack Hirschman's Poetry for the People

Listen to "Labor Day with Blues and Jack Hirschman's Poetry for the People"

Jack Hirschman, San Francisco Poet Laureate, shares his work and the work of other poets for the people. Includes a first ever airing of his latest arcane to Amiri Baraka on Barak Obama and to We, the People. Interspersed with the Blues.

An interview with Jaffar Yaghoobi, a former political prisoner in Iran

Listen to "An interview with Jaffar Yaghoobi, a former political prisoner in Iran"

Jaffar Yaghoobi was born in Tabriz, Iran where he finished his Bachelor of Science degree in 1971.
After receiving his Ph.d in genetics from UC Davis Jaffar Yaghoobi and his wife returned to Iran shortly after the victory of the revolution of 1979 with the hope of being part of that great historic moment and to help their country.
After his arrest and years in different prisons in Iran, Yaghoobi was released and, in this interview, gives a contemporary historical context to current events in Iran.

The Truth Will Out: Boyajian on Armenia and Calley on My Lai

Listen to "The Truth Will Out: Boyajian on Armenia and Calley on My Lai"

Forty years after the massacre at My Lai, Lt. Calley apologies for his role there. This reiterates Shakespeare's view that, "the truth will out."

Armenian American David Boyajian continues this theme as he discusses the significance of whistle blower Sibel Edmonds recent deposition. While Edmonds is still under a gag order, Boyajian puts her claims into perspective as he reviews US interests in the strategic region around Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, Russia and the various political allies in play.

GI Rights Hotline Counselors Jackie Thomason and Steve Morse

Listen to "GI Rights Hotline Counselors Jackie Thomason and Steve Morse"

The GI Rights Hotline is a non-governmental free service offering information and counseling to military personnel and their families.

Jackie Thomason describes the Hotline network, the service and the sort of information it offers.

Steve Morse talks about his early resistance to the Vietnam war and how his resistance to militarism and its effects on many areas of life led him to counsel troops on about their rights.

Contact
GI Rights Hotline
Toll free phone 877-477-4487
Email gi@girightshotline.org

The Politics of Water and Medical Care in Israel and Palestiine

Listen to "The Politics of Water and Medical Care in Israel and Palestine"

In the Palestinian villages of Qarawat Bani Zayid, Kufr 'Ayn, Beit Rima, Deir Ghasane, and Nabi Salah the taps have been running dry - no water for drinking, for washing, for livestock or agriculture. Many Palestinians in this area have not had water from their taps since March 15.

We talk with Susan Kopelman of Life Source, a Palestinian-led collective that works specifically on the issues associated with water in Israel and Palestine.

We also talk with Israeli Ron Yaron of Physicians for Human Rights about the politics surrounding the medical situation facing Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley.

Finding Ways to Speak the Truth: Simone Bitton and Mary Wind

Listen to "Finding Ways to Speak the Truth: Simone Bitton and Mary Wind"

In her new documentary film titled "Rachel", Israeli-French filmmaker Simone Bitton tries to get at the truth of 23-year-old Rachel Corrie's death on August 16, 2003. That day, US-made Israeli-driven bulldozers arrived to demolish the Nasrallah house in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Rachel Corrie refused to move out of the path of the bulldozer and was run over and crushed to death.

Mary Wind of Teach Peace is a member of a growing segment of the American population that continues to engage with the truth as we know it. Mary openly challenged her own assumptions and brought them to bear on the issues facing our world.

People Supporting People -- from Iran to Nevada

Listen to "People Supporting People -- from Iran to Nevada"

The underlying theme of this show is about citizens of the world working to empower themselves for action in the world, actions that, perhaps taking a long time to come to full fruition, empower individuals to really change the world.

First up is the story of an entire country undergoing a major shift: Iran and the worldwide support for its people.

At the community and individual level of empowerment Xan Sam Joi and Janet Weil present updates on the protests against drones that was held outside Creech AFB and in Las Vegas, Nevada, from July 10 - 13.

We end the show on a high note talking with Molly Burke, a life coach and executive director of the organization Life Purpose Works.

Includes the story and music of United Airlines passenger Dave Carroll who had his Taylor guitar destroyed by the airline's baggage handlers during a flight to Nebraska last year; he uses his musical talents to great effect.

Perspectives from Veterans: Reverend Susan Turley and Tyler Boudreau

Listen to "Perspectives from Veterans: Reverend Susan Turley and Tyler Boudreau"

Reverend Susan Turley is a board certified chaplain of the National Association of Veterans Affairs and presently directs the clinical pastoral education program at the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. She is also the mother of Keith Jesse Moore who killed himself in Yusifiyah Iraq in 2006 and most recently is a filmmaker reaching out to other bereaved mothers.

Former US Marine Corp Captain Tyler Boudreau is cycling across the US as a unique route to healing himself from war and rewiring his brain for civilian life. He is also author of Unpacking Inferno: The Unmaking of a Marine. I interviewed him by cell phone on the road in Helena, Montana.

Patriotism - What is It? With Dr. Michael Parenti and others

Listen to "Patriotism - What is It? With Dr. Michael Parenti and others"

A look at definitions of patriotism, militarism, and the pledge of allegiance with Dr. Michael Parenti.

Also Cynthia McKinney, Mairead Maguire from prison in Ramle, Israel after being arrested on the high seas by the Israeli Navy.

Court Case Dismissed Against Activists

Listen to "Court Case Dismissed Against Activists"

A review of something new possible in Israel and Palestine mediated by Egypt and brokered by US, EU, and UN?

On January 20, 2009 seventy people came to Washington DC with a message for the 111th Congress: End the war. End the Killing. They were referring to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and US sanctioned bombings of Gaza. The group marched in a solemn procession which ended in the atrium of the Hart Senate Building, where they respectfully spoke the names of those who had perished prematurely and unnecessarily.

Police disrupted this Constitutionally protected speech on the grounds of illegal assemble and disorderly conduct.

The court case was dismissed on June 22. On the phone are three activists Pete Perry, Michelle Grise, and Robert Diesu who were in the courtroom.

Also, a brief look at Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, "drones" and what they promise for the future of war.

Policy Analyst Conn Hallinan on US in Afghanistan and Central Asia

Listen to "Policy Analyst Conn Hallinan on the US in Afghanistan and Central Asia"

Conn Hallinan is a policy analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus, an arm of the Institute for Policy Studies. He is also a lecturer in journalism at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a columnist with city of Berkeley Ca's newspaper The Daily Planet. In this wide ranging conversation he discusses US policy in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

People Power: Sustainability and Activism

Listen to "People Power: Sustainability and Activism"


Lisa Di Piano is a member of Northampton MA's business Pedal People, a municipal trash collection effort powered by people on bicycles.

Francis Crow has been an activist for peace all her adult life. At 90, she talks about her life: US culture during the atomic bomb testing and after dropping the bomb on Japan, her early efforts to counsel Vietnam era troops about the draft, and how she brought Amy Goodman's show Democracy Now to Northampton MASS. (This involved pirate radio on a local hilltop and, eventually, raising funds that would normally have gone to a local radio station.)

War Resister Seeks Asylum and Rebuilding after War

Listen to "War Resister Seeks Asylum and Rebuilding after War"

US Army enlistee André Shepherd applied for asylum in Germany in 2008. This because on the grounds of conscience he refused to redeploy to Iraq. He now lives with other asylum-seekers, mainly Iraqis and Afghans, in a facility provided by the German government.


Not for profit organization Rebuilding Alliance rebuilds homes and communities in regions of war and occupation and advocates for government policies towards these regions based on human rights and international law. Executive Director Donna Baranski-Walker talks about their projects which are symbols of hope that help rebuild shattered communities and offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home.

Mary Tillman on Lt. Gen. McCrystal

Listen to "Mary Tillman on Lt. Gen. McCrystal"

Sean Cahill on Lesson 9 of the Alameda Unified School District: the LBGTQ language offends some parents. The AUSD agrees to move it forward and roll it out to students.

Devin Slavin works as a regenerative design consultant and mentor through his permaculture business - Abundance In Balance Design. His inspiration for creating a world in which we all thrive led him to founding the Grow Food Party Crew.

Mary Tillman mother of Arizonas Cardinal Football star Pat Tillman as well as Kevin Tillman who served with Pat in a US Army Ranger unit in Afghanistan. Pat Tillman died by fratricide on April 22 2004. Mary Tillman authored Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My tribute to Pat Tillman published in 2008. She talks about President Obama's choice to be the next United States military commander in Afghanistan: Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal goes before the Armed Services Committee Tuesday June 2.

Respect MP George Galloway on Tour for Gaza

Listen to "Respect MP George Galloway on Tour for Gaza"

MP George Galloway is on tour for an upcoming trip to Gaza to attempt to break the blockade on that region.
This event took place in Berkeley, CA and is one of several across the country.

Also, another view of Gaza: the beaches.

Music by Luci Murphy

Susan Galleymore, author of Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror

Listen to "Susan Galleymore, author of Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror"

Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror, shares verbatim stories from mothers and others (troops, family members) affected by war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and West Bank, Lebanon and Syria and the US.

Author and Raising Sand Radio host, Susan Galleymore, traveled to these countries between 2004 and 2007 to gather stories although the project actually began when her son was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and she traveled there to talk to him about war.

Published by Pluto Press and distributed by Palgrave/McMillan in the US, order the book online or from the book's website.

NOTE: View pictures from the book tour from the website too.

Voices against War: Book Launch at Busboys and Poets, Washington DC

Listen to "Voices against War: Book Launch at Busboys and Poets, Washington DC"

Voices from the local community of Washington DC speaking at the tour event for the book, Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror.

Mike Marceau - Vets for Peace
Chantelle Bateman -USMarine Corps and Iraq Vets Against War
Anita Bateman - "military mom" of Chantelle

MC'd by Verna Avery-Brown of Pacifica radio with music by Luci Murphy, Gray Panther.

On the Road with Raising Sand Radio and Mothers Speak about War and Terror

Listen to "On the Road with Raising Sand Radio and Mothers Speak about War and Terror"

For the next two weeks I'm on the road with my book, Long Time Passing, Mothers Speak about War and Terror, in which I share the stories of mothers and others in the war zones of Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and the United States. Learn more about the book and the tour stops at the web site Mothers Speak about War and Terror (www.mothersspeakaboutwarandterror.org).

At each event I've invited members of the the local community affected by war to join me in raising our voices about the devastating effects of war. Today we'll hear from the voices shared at events in the Pacific North West, from Portland Oregon and Lakewood Was, where I presented the book and its ideas at a gi supported coffee shop called coffee Strong.

For Mothers Day 2009... No More Victims

Listen to "For Mothers Day 2009... No More Victims"

Maxine Fookson and Ned Rosch are representatives of the Portland, Oregon community of No More Victims, an organization that connects American communities with war-injured Iraqi children and their families.
No More Victims is a citizen's response to war and militarism in the form of a national non-profit grassroots organization that connects American communities with war-injured Iraqi children and their families. Community participants band together to learn how the child was injured, assess the child's current situation, and work to meet the most pressing needs of the child and family.

Nadia McCaffrey is Gold Star parent which means that she has lost a child in an American war. Nadia is mother of California National Guardsman Patrick McCaffrey who was killed in Balad on a US Army base Camp Anaconda in 2004.
Nadia McCaffrey, part of the anti-war community since 2004, is founder of Veterans' Village.

Afghanistan: a view with trees, art, and culture

Listen to "Afghanistan: a view with trees, art, and culture"

Asma Eschen is a Board Member and Director of Agriculture at Afghans4Tomorrow. She is the Co-founder of the Bare Roots Group and has led 4 delegations to plant and distribute 125,000 trees in Afghanistan since 2005. With her mission to green Kabul's hills, this year Asma and her team planted over 6,000 trees in and around Kabul. She comments on her experiences there this time around.

An excerpt from recent event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center called Liminal Spaces, Afghan Culture and the Future of South Asia. A preview screening of Shireen Pasha's movie, Slowly Slowly Mud and Lotus and a four person panel:
Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York, and born and raised in Afghanistan.
Robert Abdul Hayy Darr, a student of traditional Islamic culture and author of The Spy of the Heart and translator of classic sufi poetry.
Shireen Pasha is a storyteller and film maker, Slowly Slowly Mud and Lotus
Bina Sarkar Ellias is founder publisher, editor and designer of Gallerie, an award winning global arts and ideas journal published in India.
Thanks for Farhat Ashufta, videographer, for sharing the audio for this segment

"Military Mom" Joan Najbar and Michael William of Coffee Strong on the National Guard

Listen to "'Military Mom' Joan Najbar and Michael William of Coffee Strong on the National Guard"

Joan Najbar's son spent 16 months in Iraq during periods of intense combat. She talks about her family's experiences with "reintegration" from the perspective of a mother and a mental health professional. She also talks about the lack of awareness of colleagues, friends, and the general US population not directly involved in issues of war and peace and who don't make it their duty to learn more.


Michael William in Washington state, is a war resister on the cutting edge of GI supported business. We talk to Michael at his place of Work, Coffee Strong where active duty troops from the nearby military bases come for coffee and mix with veterans, resisters, and their families.
Coffee Strong and GI Voice

Download shorter segments of this show:
Joan Najbar (24:50)

Michael William and Coffee Strong (17:00)

Promo for radio host's book tour (1:20)

Dr. Bacevich on NATO and Sasha Crowe and Maha on Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Listen to "Dr. Bacevich on NATO and Sasha Crowe and Maha on Iraqi Refugees in Jordan"

Whither and wherefore NATO? Boston University's Dr. Andrew Bacevich suggests the U.S. exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since its primary organizing principle has been fulfilled.

With the situation of Iraqi refugees in the Greater Middle East out of the headlines in the U.S., listeners might believe the problems facing displaced people have been solved. Sasha Crowe and Mahaare based in Amman, Jordan with the organization Collateral Repair Project. They update listeners on the day-to-day realities facing refugees in Jordan.

Collateral Repair Project
CRP Newsletter (pdf)

Dr. Clare Brandabur and "Roadmap to Genocide"

Listen to "Dr. Clare Brandabur and 'Roadmap to Genocide'"

After 12 years teaching in the English Department at University of Illinois, Dr. Clare Brandabur went on to teach extensively in the Middle East: Birzeit University in Occupied Palestine, Al-Ba'ath University in Syria as a Fulbright Professor, Bilkent University in Ankara, Middle East Technical University, the University of Bahrain, and at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. She currently teaches at Dosh University in Istanbul and her fields are archetypal criticism and mythology, contemporary Arabic literature, post-colonial criticism, feminism, and human rights issues. Dr. Brandabur discusses a recent article published in Left Curve Journal titled "Roadmap to Genocide".

Left Curve Journal

Pluto Press for books mentioned in this show

Seth Manzel on the anniversary of the war on Iraq; Farima Joya on Afghanistan

Listen to "Seth Manzel on the anniversary of the war on Iraq; Farima Joya on Afghanistan"

Recognizing Mordechai Vanunu, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize... and refusing it for its association with Israeli Simon Peres.

Iraq War veteran Seth Manzel on the sixth anniversary of the war on Iraq. After his tour of duty as an infantryman with the US Army he is Executive Director of GI Voice in Washington state.

Farima Joya, co-founder of Berkeley Bamyan Education Foundation, was born in Afghanistan and left her homeland with her family in 1983. Farima Joya helps us understand something about a country that the US has been engaged with militarily since October 7, 2001, the day we began a bombing campaign that is yet to end.

Nora Barrows Friedman Shares the Radio Arts

Listen to "Nora Barrows Friedman Shares the Radio Arts"

An update from World Can't Wait's western coordinator, Stephanie Tang, who faces one year in jail and $1000 fine for protesting.

Nora Barrows Friedman is a senior producer of KPFA's Flashpoints and the creative impetus for sharing radio arts with West Bank youth. In this wide-ranging conversation she speaks about how she got started in radio and the background that informs her work.

Map illustration of Palestinian Loss of Land from 1946-2008.

Observing International Women's Day...and the Stop Recruiting Kids Program

Listen to "Observing International Women's Day...and the Stop Recruiting Kids program"
[58:50 mins]

2011 will be 100 years of celebrating International Women's Day and this year we review the latest data and listen to clips from news on the event from Russia, Iran, Haiti.

David Meserve of Arcata California speaks about their ballot initiative to make military recruiters Stop Recruiting Kids... at least in Arcata and Eureka. The case goes to court and if it prevails, military recruiters could faces challenges to the recruiting business as usual around the country.

Global Gender Gap Report

BBC's article on Iran

UK Guardian's clip on Haiti

Play list:
John Lennon, "Woman"

Celebrating Women: Max Dashu and Kayhan Irani

Listen to "Celebrating Women: Max Dashu and Kayhan Irani"

Max Dashu is an independent historian, freelance teacher of global women's studies, and founder of the Suppressed Histories Archives - a collection of over 1400 slides to research and document women's history from an international perspective.

Kayhan Irani is an artivist dedicated to unleashing beauty and truth from unconventional and irregular platforms. Kayhan uses theater to activate audiences and transform society and she is an enthusiastic practitioner and trainer of Theater of the Oppressed, a participatory form of theater for social change.

David Schonbrunn on public transportation in California

Listen to "David Schonbrunn on public transportation in California"

Transit activist David Schonbrunn, executive director of the non-profit organization Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund - TransDef - presents his vision for the future of public transportation in California. TransDef takes on California's public transportation organizations and, quite frequently, wins major legal battles. Nevertheless, Schonbrunn finds that changing the status quo's habitual ways of thinking and acting requires a lot more than changing laws.

Contact TransDef

Deborah Nelson, author of The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes

Listen to "Deborah Nelson, author of The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes"

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Deborah Nelson researched recently declassified collections that represent the largest compilation of US war crime reports from the Vietnam conflict ever to surface, including more than 300 allegations by hundreds of Vietnam War veterans...most of these actions are not known to the public, even though the military investigated them.

We discuss her book, The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes.

Capt. Paul Chappell, an Active Duty Army Officer, Proposes World Peace

Listen to "Capt. Paul Chappell, an Active Duty Army Officer, Proposes World Peace"

In this just published book, Will War Ever End? A Soldier's Vision of Peace in the 21st Century, U.S. Army Captain Paul Chappel writes, "I am 28 years old, and I have been obsessed with the problem of war for most of my life. Raised by a father who served in two wars as a soldier and a mother who lived through two wars as a child, I became determined to solve this problem and end its continuing tragedies."

Captain Chappell graduated from West Point in 2002 and was deployed to Baghdad during 2006 and 2007. He now serves as the commander of a Patriot Battery at Fort Bliss, Texas and continues writing his second book, Peaceful Revolutions.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Dave Grossman, author of On Killing, and Director of the Warrior Science Group, writes in the Foreword, "Paul K. Chappell has transformed my way of thinking about war and peace."

Buy this book at a special price and benefit Raising Sand Radio and its partner, MotherSpeak

Hardcover edition, $10
Autographed hardcover edition, $50
Add $5 ea shipping/handling.

Kathy Kelly returns from Gaza and Jerrod Cohen on Israeli Human Rights

Listen to or download, "Kathy Kelly returns from Gaza and Jerrod Cohen on Israeli Human Rights"

Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-violence returns from Gaza and reports on what she found there. Visiting hospitals, tunnels, and families, Kathy Kelly describes the devastation.

Jerrod Cohen was, as he puts it, "a Zionist like most Jews in America" until he began researching and writing a book on Israeli human rights and violations since 2001. He shares some of his findings.


Links to organizations mentioned in this show:
Music: The Jewish-Arab Peace Song
Electronic Intifada
Israeli coalition against housing demolitions
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Free Gaza Movement
International Solidarity Movement

Breaking the Silence - Israeli troops speak

Harut Sassounian on the politics of denying the Armenian genocide

Listen to or download, "Harut Sassounian on the politics of denying the Armenian genocide"

Armenian-American Harut Sassounian publisher of California Courier, reviews the current Turkey/Israel disagreement stemming from the Turkish government's condemnation of the bombardment of Gaza. Sassounian examines the political ramifications of the condemnation...as well as the irony since their alliance includes both Turkey and Israel agreeing to deny the Armenian genocide.

Also, a poignant letter from an Israeli woman, a member of Machsom Watch, to Pres. Obama.


Music videos:
"We will not go down - song for Gaza" - Michael Heart
Letter from an Israeli woman to Pres. Obama

Dr. Martin Luther King's speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"

Listen or download, Dr. Martin Luther King's speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"

Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City.

Read the transcript.

Kathy Kelly and Voices for Creative Non-violence at Camp Hope

Listen to "Kathy Kelly and Voices for Creative Non-violence at Camp Hope"

Kathy Kelly, co-founder of Voices for Creative Non-violence speaks from Chicago's Camp Hope before leaving for Rafah on Gaza's border with Egypt.

Fellow coordinators Josh Bollier and Dan Pierson and Veterans for Peace executive director, Michael McPherson talk about why they're participating in this 18-day event. It ends on January 18 so go the the website, www.camphope2009.org for information on how you can participate.

Also, the Resolution in U.S. Congress supporting Israel's right to defend itself, Rashid Khalidi's writing, and the point of view of a fighter with Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

Links to material mentioned in the show:
U.S. Resolution: http://aipac.org/Publications/SourceMaterialsCongressionalAction/SenateRes.pdf

Rashid Khalidi's "What You Don't Know About Gaza": http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08khalidi.html

Phyllis Bennis and Uri Avnery on the Bombardment of Gaza

Listen to "Phyllis Bennis and Uri Avnery on the Bombardment of Gaza" [58:30]

An interview with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Transnational Institute on the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Learn more at Gaza Siege (http://gazasiege.org/) and Institute for Policy Studies (http://www.ips-dc.org/)

Sharing the writing and thoughts of well-known Israeli Uri Avnery, founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc) who immigrated to Palestine in 1933, has served in the Knesset, and works for peace in the region.
Learn more at Gush Shalom (http://www.gush-shalom.org/)

Music of Luka Blum, "I am not at war with anyone."