David Swanson has a dream. He wants for all of us to live in a world where there are no wars. Join us in this episode of PressCast as the executive director of the World Beyond War movement walks us through a brief history of America's anti-war movement and much more.
BTW, below, I have posted the link to the map David talks about in the show. Make sure to check it out:

https://worldbeyondwar.org/militarism-mapped/

EP49 - David Swanson on America's thirst for war

Syed Bilal Raza Rizviis a director of an after-school program for very underprivileged youth in the Bronx. But he's also a Palestine-sympathizer and activist. Join us as he talks about his experience taking part in Quds Day rallies in Central Bank and much more.

EP50 - Bilal Raza Rizvi on Quds Day in Central Park, NYC & more

"Every call could be the last call with my family," says Shahd Abusalama as she describes the horror unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Shad is a Palestinian writer, activist, artist and '"survivor".
Join us as she recount the shocking tale of the decades of aggression against Palestinians.

EP51 - Shahd Abusalama on Gaza's humanitarian tragedy

Stanley Cohen is a self-designated self-loathing Jew.  The US-based attorney and human rights activist has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa mostly on issues of resistance and struggle against colonialism and other forms of occupation. 
Join us as he talks about the recent flare up of violence directed at Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and much more.

EP52 - Stanley Cohen on Palestinian resistance & more

"I'm able to make myself look visible or invisible at certain times because of what I look like and sound like", says James Godfrey who's upbringing in a liberal Jewish community has endowed him with a degree of strategic hybridity. James Godfrey is an academic with great passion for Palestinian rights and human rights in general. Listen to this episode as he shares with us intriguing stories about his years of fighting for equality and justice.

*correction by James:  "The year I refers to about the attack on Gaza and Gaza's Ark is 2014 not 2018. And my reference to 550 people should be 550 children".

EP56 - James Godfrey on Solidarity with Palestine & much more

Is the U.S. biowarfare apparatus linked to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic? Is Israel hiding its nukes? and do American politicians have what it takes to admit it? Listen to Jordanian-Palestinian independent journalist Sam Husseini providing valuable insight on all these and much more.

EP57 - Sam Husseini on U.S. biowarfare, Israel's nukes & more

"The allies of the Haitian people should call on the United States, the United Nations and the Organization of American States to allow for Haitian people to be able to have a democratic process and to exercise sovereignty", says Chris Bernadel member of Black Alliance for Peace.

EP58 -  Christopher Bernadel on Foreign occupation of Haiti & more

Zainab Sajjad Ali is a social scientist from Australia with a knack for painting religious art. She uses factual and historical details to perfect her portraits of Imams and saints to create never-seen before paintings which reflect her life history as a Muslim convert.  Listen to this episode as I talk to Zeinab about her inspirations, methods and much more.

EP60 - Zainab Sajjad Ali on Shia Islamic Art of Painting

Razan Zuayter loves trees, and that's why her organization, APN, has helped plant over two and a half million trees - and counting- across Palestine to make up for the losses to vegetation systematically incurred by Israel. Her NGO is generally concerned by environmental hazards gripping Arab nations, mostly the ones directly caused by conflicts and occupation. Listen to this episode as she talks about her work, ambitions and much more.

EP61 - Razan Zuayter on replanting Palestine

Sourabh Gupta is an Indian guy with a Japanese wife and an American son working as a China relations expert in Washington DC. And he's joined us to talk about Afghanistan! Sourabh also tells us about growing up in Mumbai, regarding Asia as one big nation and much more. 

*Please ignore the weird scary background noise that you might hear while Sourabh is talking. I reckon that's got to do with his microphone picking up surrounding noise and turning it into that!

EP62 - Sourabh Gupta on 'Asia as One', Afghanistan's conundrum & more

Nabila Jaffer is a Research Analyst in Islamabad. Coming from Pakistan's former tribal areas, she has extensive knowledge about the tribal structure of Afghanistan which as she explains plays a crucial role in understanding the current situation and in providing potential solutions.

EP63 - Nabila Jaffer on Afghanistan's tribal structure & more

"Battle tested" is the one phrase that irks Richard Barnard more than any other words used as selling points by Israel's largest arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. And his response has proven pretty costly: The Elbit Systems have lost about 15 million pounds and seen their UK plants shut down for over a hundred days. Watch as Richard talks to me about his aspirations and hopes.

EP59 - Richard Barnard talks Shut Elbit Down movement

Lindsay Koshgarian is co-author of the groundbreaking report “State of Insecurity: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11” which details the cost of U.S. foreign and domestic militarization. The Program Director of the National Priorities Project tells us in this new edition of PressCast that the U.S. could fully decarbonize the electric grid and create 5 million jobs with only a fraction of the money spent on militarization since 9/11.

EP64 - Lindsay Koshgarian on Cost of Militarization Since 9/11

Abbas Muntaqim is a newly converted Muslim. He was so moved by the heroic acts of Abbas ibn Ali in the Battle of Karbala that he instantly chose his name for himself after declaring Shahada. Abbas helps run a charity that gives out to the homeless community in Oakland, California through various programs and means. He also co-hosts Hella Black podcasts which gives political education to the community. Abbas has joined this edition of PressCast to talk about 'decolonization', 'Afrikan-amerikan' empowerment and much more.

EP65 - Abbas Muntaqim on ameriKKKa's colonial history

Critical medical anthropologist Adrienne Pine has taught and written extensively on issues relating to the Central America and immigration throughout her career as a pragmatic academic and activist. She's joined this episode of PressCast to talk to us about the currents political situation in Honduras, decades of U.S. colonial policies, and the Haitian asylum seekers.

EP66 - Adrienne Pine on Modern History of Honduras & U.S. Colonialism

"What we are doing now is moving from the clash of civilizations to a racial war between white people and people of the yellow color who are the major threat", says Professor emeritus Beau Grosscup as he breaks down the mentality of the U.S. foreign policy toward China. 

Professor Grosscup also talks about his books, his interaction with anti-vaxxers, his trip to Iran and much more.

EP67 - Beau Grosscup on the revival of the "Yellow Peril"

The novel coronavirus is still spreading rapidly across the globe and the African continent has not been an exception. In fact, given the circumstances, the outlook for Africa is grim. As of early April, more than half of Africa's 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other measures in a bid to prevent local transmission of the virus. But the trade-off here is obvious. The measures could soon lead to an economic collapse unless financial assistance is provided to the millions of people out of work.

EP04 - Africa's COVID-19

On this episode we start with news about the month of Ramadan and fasting during the coronavirus lockdown, and then we look at Iran's recent launch of a military satellite as well as renewed tensions with the American forces in the Persian Gulf. We will also look at plummeting oil prices so make sure to listen to the whole episode.

EP07 - Last week in review

The Lebanese pound, the country's currency, is rapidly losing its value against the US dollar adding fuel to the already-violent demonstrations. The Lebanese are angry at the country's worsening economic crisis, which has got even worse by the recent coronavirus lockdown, and demand an overhaul of the entire political system. The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has also criticized the central bank over the pound's drop to record lows and said the bank’s governor was partly responsible.

EP08 - Lebanon's economic crisis

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that Lebanon must explore all options to rescue the country's economy while announcing Hezbollah's new front by saying that the Resistance party has decided to be in the heart of agricultural and industrial battle. Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed Separatists militias of the anti-Damascus Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has been impeding the delivery of flour to bread facilities in the northeastern province of Hasakah. The militants keep denying Syrian government trucks, carrying flour and other necessities, access to the province. All the while, thirst threatens 1 million people in Hasakah due to cutting water by Turkish forces in Syrian towns on the border with Turkey.

EP17 - Hezbollah vs. Lebanon's economic freefall

International calls for cessation of hostilities have fallen on the deaf ears of the feuding sides, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought the 5th day of their battle over the disputed Nagorno- Karabakh region. Expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union, Marcus Papadopoulos from London and Prof. of Political Science and International Relations, Cuneyt Akalin from Istanbul exchange views on this issue.

EP29 - Russia or Turkey: Who's to blame for Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

The U.S. - pushed into a corner by Iraqi calls to expel its occupying forces from their country - is seeking to split Iraq into three separate sectarian regions in order to maintain its troop presence in the region. By doing so, the U.S. is seeking to stir more hatred and conflict in Iraq, in order to keep the country down. This allows the US to keep its forces inside of Iraq, simply by relocating them to elsewhere in the country, most probably into Iraqi Kurdistan.

In the meantime, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a controversial move praised what it called Saudi Arabia's humanitarian role in Yemen, closing its eyes to years of atrocities committed by Riyadh and its allies against the civilian population there, leaving a large number of children dead, maimed and malnourished. The move prompted immediate protests from human rights groups worldwide.

EP30 - U.S. wants Iraq split in three

Foreign aggression, civil war, internal displacement, food insecurity, cholera outbreaks and COVID-19. This is the story of Yemen, where over 80 per cent of the population requires some form of assistance. Among them are more than 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women who are acutely malnourished. But who's to blame for this humanitarian crisis? Listen to this episode of PressCast as Hussain al-Bukhaiti, activist and political commentator from Sana'a and Eli Joseph James, a radio host and political commentator in Chicago exchange views.

EP38 - Yemen: World's worst humanitarian crisis

American author and journalist Daniel Lazare and  Raza Kazim from the Islamic Human Rights Commission talk about the prospects of France's controversial security bill which has been accused of obstructing civil liberties. Could the “global security bill" actually jeopardize the freedom of the press and herald the introduction of a ubiquitous surveillance system?

EP45 - France's freedom of expression in jeopardy

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