intifada=shaking off - oppression/silence

Voices of struggle, Voices for change  

KPFK/Pacifica 90.7 fm, Los Angeles

Thursday, July 30, 2009 3-4pm PDT

Hosted and Produced by Nile El Wardani/SWANA Collection

IRAQ:

Troop Withdrawal, BIG $$$ Oil Auctions, The World's Largest Embassy

and the Colonization of Iraq?

What IS really happening on the ground in Iraq today?

What IS the Obama Doctrine?

How many troops withdrew and who stayed? How many US bases were closed? Was the U.S. Military "footprint"  in Iraq reduced or just made to look that way? The Iraqi Military: Whose Military is it anyway? Whose Economy is it? Who owns Iraq? Who controls Iraq? Who controls the spoils of war? What does oil have to do with anything? What about H2O? What does classical colonialism look like? What does colonialism "lite" circa 2009 look like? How do the Iraqis experience U.S. involvement now? What can American union members do for Iraqi oil workers? We will discuss these questions and more with our guests:

Michael Schwartz is a professor of sociology at Stony Brook State University, and the author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context [42] (Haymarket Books), which explains how the militarized geopolitics of oil led the U.S. to dismantle the Iraqi state and economy while fueling a sectarian civil war. Schwartz's work on Iraq has appeared in numerous academic and popular outlets. He is a regular at TomDispatch.com.

Jim Norris is the President of USW Local 675 who has just returned from Erbil, Iraq as part of the International Labor Conference which seeks to collaborate with Iraqi oil workers.

Ahmed Jabar is an Iraqi born - US citizen who has returned several times to his native country to work on the Iraq Reconstruction and Development Task Force.


Radio Intifada Calendar of Events:

What: Report Back from Iraq: Spaghetti Fundraiser for Iraqi unions sponsored by the LA-US Labor Against the War and USW
When: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 7:30pm
Where: Union Hall, 1200 E. 220th Street, Carson, CA 90745
Cost: $20 per person (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)


What: Jews of the Arab/Muslim Word: Film, Music and Panel Discussion
Author, historian and documentary filmmaker Sami Shalom Chetrit presents the film he co-directed with Eli Hamo, "The Black Panthers (of Israel) Speak." After the screening, Chetrit will review the Mizrahi narrative, discussing the uprooting of Jewish communities throughout the Middle East and North Africa who either emigrated to Israel or other countries of choice. Garrett Nada talks about Mizrahi music and how it has become a sub-culture on the Israeli pop music scene. Moderated by Jordan Elgrably of Levantine Cultural Center.

When: Wednesday August 5, 2009
Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Organizer: Levantine Cultural Center at www.levantinecenter.org
Where: Beth Chalim Chadashim/Levantine Cultural Center
             5998 and 6000 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035