On the Ground w Esther Iverem

Standing ovations from the U.S. Congress have only emboldened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose new killing spree threatens a regional, if not an even larger war. Tens of thousands of mourners packed the streets of Tehran for the funeral of the political leader of Hamas,  Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated early Wednesday, July 31st  in an Israeli attack on his residence...

As Benjamin Netanyahu, a war criminal, is applauded by lawmakers in a joint session of Congress, the H HEDLINES American people calling for Netanyahu’s arrest are attacked by politicians and the police. And in the ramped up chaos of the U.S. presidential race, corporate media all but disappears the murder, mutilation, terror and displacement inflicted on the people of Gaza by Israel. We spea...

For this month’s F-Word on fascism, historian Gerald Horne discusses right-wing populism and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance. And as NATO doubles down on failed wars of hegemony, we hear more voices from the No NATO, Yes PEACE Summit. K J Noh is a journalist, political analyst, writer, and teacher specializing in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region. Ju-Hyun Park is an...

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, meets in DC to celebrate 75 years and to plan for more war around the globe. But before that, the international No NATO – Yes Peace Counter Summit exposes facts of NATO’s blood-soaked history. A coalition of more than 100 organizations met in DC for a day-long program on Saturday July 6, followed by a march and rally in front of the White House...

The political shake-up continues in Europe and the United States, but will it translate into change or into the same-old, same-old? We speak to historian Gerald Horne. And the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions movement scores its biggest win ever, as crises deepen in the apartheid state. An excerpt from Electronic Intifada, featuring an interview with Shir Hever. The show is made possible only by our...

Wikileaks founder, journalist and whistleblower Julian Assange is freed from prison. For our monthly exploration of all things media, we speak to journalist Jon Jeter. And after President Biden is often incoherent in his first debate with former president Donald Trump, the Democratic Party is in a panic, and the presidential race may be in turmoil. Plus headlines on the debate, independent preside...

What does the new mutual defense pact between Russia and North Korea mean for geopolitics, war and peace? We speak to historian Gerald Horne. And African American soldiers who fought and turned the tide in the U.S. Civil War are remembered on Juneteenth. Plus headlines on Palestine, conscientious objectors, climate and Juneteenth in DC. Voices: Gerald Horne, Darren Charles Overby, clip from &#8220...

After tens of thousands surround the White House, in protest of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Gaza, an open-air People’s Court of Justice is held, putting U.S. and Israeli officials on trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. And why are U.S. and European officials playing nuclear chicken with Russia? We speak to historian and author Gerald Horne. Plus headlines. The show is...

Americans don’t want their tax dollars to fund genocide, and on Saturday, June 8, they are creating a people’s red line for the Biden administration. Also, Part 2 of our coverage from the historic People’s Conference for Palestine. Scholar and educator Abdaljawad Omar on the panel “Palestinian Resistance and the Path to Liberation.”  Plus headlines. The show is made p...

On this show, we spend the hour hearing from Palestinian physician and political leader Mustafa Barghouti, members of the Palestinian Youth Movement, and others speaking on the first day of the historic People’s Conference for Palestine, held May 24-26, 2024, in Detroit. The conference was held as 125,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been either killed or seriously wounded in attacks by the Isr...

Today’s information war in the United States is a battle between censorship and the right to tell the truth, particularly about Palestine and Apartheid Israel. For our monthly special on media and culture, we speak to journalist Jon Jeter. And at a high school in DC, Arab students are banned from screening the film “The Occupation of the American Mind,” but we listen to portions...

In this month’s segment of the F-word on fascism, the genocidal attack on Gaza by Israel – and the worldwide opposition to it – is educating a new generation about the deadly nature of settler colonialism. And U.S. federal workers stage an action in front of the White House to protest U.S. unconditional aid to apartheid Israel. Plus headlines, including ICJ genocide case against...

Students and community members arrested and attacked by DC police at George Washington University speak out at a press conference on Capitol Hill about the destruction of their Gaza Solidarity Camp. And despite the effort by lawmakers and corporate news organizations to demonize the encampments, these student protests have grown the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Isra...

As many Gaza Solidarity Encampments are destroyed on college campuses with hundreds of arrests, students at George Washington University mark one week of their encampment and raise the flag of Palestine. And International Workers Day takes on Special Meaning in 2024, as those rallying connected the issues of labor rights with international solidarity. Plus headlines on Gaza, attacks on college pro...

The latest Gaza Solidarity Encampment is set up less than a mile from the White House and George Washington University students vow to stay until their demands are met. And after more than 200 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, and more than 110,000 dead, missing or injured, U.S. lawmakers try to squash the burgeoning student solidarity movement. We speak to our media critic Jon Jeter. Plus headline...

There is another attack on Iran, and repression of Pro-Palestine students continues on U.S. campuses. Sudan just marked one year of war that has killed thousands and displaced millions. Gerald Horne joins us and we hear from some of those rallying for Sudan at Freedom Plaza in DC. Plus headlines, including proposed legislation to expand the notorious 702 section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil...

The ratcheting up of tensions by the U.S. and its allies keeps the world on edge, from Ukraine, to West Asia, to the Pacific. We speak to Gerald Horne. In Congress, Medea Benjamin and activists confront lawmakers and officials about genocide in Gaza. And as billions are sent abroad for war, human needs like child care in the U.S. are diminished or eliminated. We feature voices from a rally by earl...

For Palestinians, the 2024 celebration of Land Day took on special meaning as the Israeli government attempts a “final solution” of ethnic Gaza, and the military has destroyed or poisoned vast swaths of territory that has sustained the indigenous population for millennia. Also, historian Gerald Horne weighs in on the dangerous climb of the escalation ladder in West Asia and Ukraine. Th...

While corporate media continue to spread false stories about mass rape of Israeli women by Hamas last October 7th, documented rapes of Palestinian women, men and children are ignored. We speak to investigative journalist Arun Gupta. And according to a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Occupied Palestine, the attack on Gaza meets the threshold for genocide. Plus headlines....

For this show, a rebroadcast of the keynote address, “Israel Beyond Apartheid,” by author and activist Susan Albulhawa, delivered at the Israel and American Policy Conference held March 22, 2019 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC., sponsored by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Abulhawa discusses Israel as a major weapons developer and exporter, the use of Gaza as...

Part Two – “At the Table and on the Menu: Respectability Politics and Tokenism in Genocidal Times. A Conversation Between Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Women About Hollow Inside Strategies as Israel’s Genocide of Palestinians Goes Unabated. Plus headlines on Gaza, DC Ceasefire Coalition confronts DC Council, and SNCC freedom fight Dorie Ladner joins the ancestors. Moderated by Mah...

For International Working Womens Day –“At the Table and on the Menu: Respectability Politics and Tokenism in Genocidal Times,” part one of a conversation between muslim, Arab and Palestinian Women about hollow inside strategies as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians goes unabated. Moderated by Maha Hilal, an expert on institutionalized Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and cou...

A vigil for Aaron Bushnell outside Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC draws hundreds one day after the U.S. Airman lit himself on fire in front of the embassy and died of his critical injuries. Several speakers are featured, including: Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss; Kymone Freeman of WeAct Radio; Danaka Katkovich, national co-director of Code Pink reading a statement by former U.S airmen and whistleblo...

In our second excerpt from the documentary, “The Occupation of the American Mind,” Israel’s 1982 attack on Lebanon, and the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, forces Israel to adopt a robust strategy of propaganda called hasbara. And a new book offers the untold history of Israel and Palestinian resistance. We speak with Richard Becker ab...

If corporate media’s coverage of the genocide in Gaza leaves you with that upside down feeling, you re not alone. Throughout Israel’s brutal 76-year system of occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid in Palestine, it has always portrayed itself not as the occupier but as the victim. We speak to author and film director Sut Jhally. And as Israel’s narrative become more and more...