Electronic Intifada
Co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a website that publishes news and commentary on Middle East issues; former research fellow at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC, an independent think-tank, and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse; board member and former Vice President of the Arab American Action Network
Boston Marathon Bombings and Muslim Americans Three weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, some members of Congress are calling for more surveillance of American Muslims. Some Muslims are calling for self-policing of their community and more cooperation with law enforcement. Others warn against accepting collective punishment for bloody violence as abhorrent to Muslims as to other Americans of different faiths. At today's Congressional hearing on the bombings , Republican committee chair Michael McCaul of Texas said the nation had been attacked by "radical Islamist terrorists." New York Republican Peter King echoed that sentiment. We hear a debate about how to increase security without either religious discrimination or an excess of political correctness.
Obama, Distancing Himself from Arab-Americans, American Muslims? Barack Obama has visited churches and synagogues during his presidential campaign but, so far, he has not been to a mosque. Does his message of unity extend to American Muslims? Many are not so sure. Would his sympathy for the Palestinians produce more even-handedness in the Middle East? Some Arab Americans don't really think so. A Christian candidate needs to quash rumors that he's a secret Muslim without offending Muslims themselves. While his hard-line support for Israel may appeal to Jews, it could turn off another constituency that's potentially crucial in several states. As Obama goes to the Middle East, we talk about political challenges at home.
In Mid-East Fighting, What's News? What's Propaganda? The war between Israel and Hezbollah is being fought not just on the ground but also in the media. Both sides are adept at propaganda--to persuade the other side it's losing and to influence the ideas and images reported in the rest of the world. Israel bombards southern Lebanon with phone calls, e-mails and leaflets that one reporter has called " propaganda bombs " that flutter to the streets "like confetti." Hezbollah provides "escorts" for western reporters. How do mainstream newspapers, radio and television stations sort it all out? We speak with journalists and Middle East experts about propaganda on both sides and ask how the mainstream media figure out what's true and what's false.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
