They claim to be the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement in the United States, seeking a more just and equitable situation for both Israelis and Palestinians, but is the new pro-Israeli lobby group J-Street any different from AIPAC? Crossing The Line speaks to Nadia Hijab about this new face on Capital Hill.

Also this week, Israel recently concluded its week-long celebrations marking 60 years of Independence. Dignitaries from around the world, including George W. Bush, traveled to the region to partake in the festivities and offered words of encouragement for peace. But in our second segment guest, Alice Rothchild, wonders if peace might be accelerated if Israelis looked at things from the perspective of the occupied rather than the occupiers.

This program was produced by Crossing The Line for May 23, 2008.

For more information, visit:
ctl.libsyn.com
jstreet.org
palestine-studies.org
alicerothchild.com

Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, addressing the AIPAC conference in Washington DC, made sure to express his unconditional support of Israel and took great pains to clarify his position on Iran: tough negotiations as leverage.

This program was produced by The Real News for June 5, 2008.

For more information, visit:
therealnews.com
barackobama.com

Paul Jay speaks to Jonathan Schell on the candidates and Israel.

Based in New York City, USA, Jonathan Schell is a renowned anti-nuclear activist, prolific journalist, lecturer and best-selling author. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and Atlantic Monthly. He is also the author of The Fate of the Earth, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Schell is a board member of IWT - The Real News.

This program was produced by The Real News for February 3, 2008.

For more information, visit:
therealnews.com
www.thenation.com/directory/bios/jonathan_schell

Independent journalist Ben White joins host Christopher Brown to discuss the Israeli Ministry of Education’s “inclusion” of the Palestinian Nakba into students’ textbooks. White points out a number of concerns regarding the supposed enlightenment of the Israeli school system and its broader implications.

Next Brown speaks with author, editor and activist Ramzy Baroud on the notion of “peace talks” between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, the continued exclusion of Hamas from talks with Israel and Fatah, and the neo-cons and AIPAC’s attempts to get Bush to go to war with Iran.

As always, Crossing the Line begins with “This week in Palestine,” a service provided by The International Middle East Media Center.

This program was produced by Crossing The Line for August 14, 2007.

For more information, visit:
ctl.libsyn.com

Marian Finucane, one of Ireland’s most widely heard radio host, speaks to Pres. Jimmy Carter about his latest book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.

This program was produced by RTE Radio 1 on May 20, 2007.

For more information, visit:
rte.ie/radio1/marianfinucane/
cartercenter.org

This week on Crossing The Line, it describes itself as the most important organization affecting the US relationship with Israel. But who is AIPAC? I’ll speak with award-winning investigative journalist Dave Lindorff about the lobby group whose annual budget is more than 65 million dollars and claims a membership of over 100,000. Also this week, we’ll hear from our special correspondent Nora Barrows-Friedman who is currently in occupied Palestine, about the violence that raged over the most holiest weekend in the Christian calendar.

Then later in the podcast our weekly commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal and The War’s Toll compiled and read by Scott Burgwin of The Stand Independent News Service.

For more information, visit:
ctl.libsyn.com/ (Crossing the Line)

Your Call Radio takes a look at the largest lobbying organization in the United States. AIPAC is widely considered to be the most effective and powerful lobby in the US, particularly in its targeting of Congress for support.

Features MJ Rosenberg, Director of Policy Analysis, Israel Policy Forum (IPF); Gregory Levey, Israeli Government’s Speech writer, United Nations Delegate; Dorothy Naor, Israeli Peace Activist.

This program was produced by Your Call Radio for KALW in San Fransisco.

For more information, visit:
www.yourcallradio.org/
www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/16/aipac/ (Inside America’s Powerful Israel Lobby)
ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011 (The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy)

What role does the pro-Israel lobby play in the shaping of American foreign policy? Although discussions of this issue date back decades, the debate has recently been brought into the mainstream by an article published in the London Review of Books in March 2006 by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, which charges that the influence of the Israel lobby result in policies that are in essence incompatible with American interests. Apart from the predictable chorus of Anti-Semitic accusations which the article gave rise to, it also gave rise to a serious debate within the progressive movement, in an attempt to accurately assess the power of the lobby and its influence both on policies and on public opinion.

The two guests on our program have been important contributors to that debate:

Norman Finkelstein is a Professor of Political Science at DePaul University. He is the author of a number of books as well as articles on the history of Zionism, and on the role of the holocaust in shaping Israeli present day policies. His latest book published in (2005) is Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.

James Petras is a retired Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, SUNY. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the making of state power and globalization, in the context of the US and Latin America and most recently in the Middle East. Is latest book published in 2006 is titled The Power of Israel in the United States.

Hosted and produced by Hagit Borer for the SWANA (South and West Asia and North Africa) Collective of KPFK.

For more information, visit:
kpfk.org
normanfinkelstein.com

James Petras is author of a new book that examines the role of the pro-Israel lobby in shaping US foreign policy. He says that this subject is taboo not only in mainstream America but also in progressive circles. He speaks with Mordecai Briemberg.

For more information, visit:
www.vcn.bc.ca/redeye/
The Power of Israel in the United States (Amazon)