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

On Monday the 28th of April, 2008, Bryan Atinsky spoke with Nassar Ibrahim in the offices of the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour. Nassar, a longtime Palestinian writer, journalist and activist, is Policy Director of the AIC. We discussed the implications of the recent visit of former US President Jimmy Carter to the Middle East, the possibility of a long-term ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the context of recent US and Israeli diplomatic maneuvers in the region, and Palestinian plans for events to commemorate 60 years since the Nakba.

This program was produced by the Alternative Information Center for April 28, 2008.

For more information, visit:
alternativenews.org

Professor Salman H. Abu-Sitta of the London-based Palestine Land Society gives a personal account of how he became a refugee in Palestine in 1948. Using data from his research, Abu-Sitta shows how over 600 Palestinian villages were systematically depopulated by the advancing Israeli forces, leaving many others dismembered by an arbitrary cease-fire line. With maps and demographic statistics, Abu-Sitta shows that, in effect, Zionist policies were an ethnic cleansing campaign that resulted in a massive transfer of native Palestinians to the countries bordering Israel, where thousands remain within 100 miles from their original communities.

This program was produced for Alternative Focus by John Odam.

For more information, visit:
alternatefocus.org
plands.org (Palestine Land Society)

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

In this talk, Charles Smith, professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, gives an account of the history of Palestine and Israel. In the first part Smith describes the period from the first wave of Zionist immigrants up to the end of the British mandate in 1948. Smith then takes us from the foundation of the State of Israel to the 1967 war and the occupation of the West Bank. In the third segment, Smith covers the 1967 and 1973 wars, the land-for-peace agreement with Egypt up to the Olso Accords and the first and second intifadas.

This program was produced for Alternative Focus by John Odam in 2006.

For more information, visit:
alternatefocus.org

Sunday, June 10th marks four decades of Israel’s illegal military occupation of Palestine, against a backdrop of nearly sixty years of ethnic transfer and displacement.

On this national Pacifica special, producers from around the country investigate the cause and effect of Israel’s continuous military occupation policies toward the Palestinians, which permeates every aspect of life — from the suffocating checkpoints and land theft inside the West Bank to the violence and chaos inside a hermetically-sealed Gaza strip; to the issues of identity and culture in a widening diaspora.

This program was produced by Pacifica Radio for June 10, 2007.

For more information, visit:
pacifica.org
norabf.com (Host of the program.)

Dr. Bazian, adjunct professor of Islamic Studies at UC Berkeley and Islamic Law at Boalt Law School discusses the crisis in occupied Palestine in connection with the 59th anniversary of the Nakba, including the collaboration of the Palestinian Authority with US and Israel.

This program was produced by Jeff Blankfort for KZYX Radio on May 30, 2007.

For more information, visit:
kzyx.org

This week Crossing The Line continues with Pt.2 of a conversation with Israeli academic and activist Ilan Pappe.

Also this week, Professor Norman G. Finkelstein of DePaul University a noted academic scholar on Israel/Palestine, is being attacked by his old nemesis Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School regarding his attempts at tenure at DePaul. I’ll speak to attorney Frank Menetrez who published an article regarding the long simmering feud between the two men and the danger of academic freedom on university campuses.

Then later, we’ll hear from Aljazeera correspondent Laila el-Haddad about the current situation in the Gaza Strip in light of the 59th anniversary of al-Nakba “The Catastrophe”

And, as always, weekly commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

This program was produced by Crossing The Line on May 18, 2007.

For more information, visit:
ctl.libsyn.com/
ilanpappe.org/
normanfinkelstein.com/
a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

While the Palestinian prepare to commemorate 59 years of Al-Nakba, factional infighting in Gaza Strip kills dozens of Palestinians and Israeli army launches several air strikes killing 17 others. These stories and more in this weeks program.

This Week in Palestine for May 12 through May 18, 2007 was brought to you by the International Middle East Media Center.

For more information, visit:
imemc.org

Ilan Pappe on Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Interviewed by Nadim Mahjoub on Resonance FM Radio, 27 October 2006.

For more information, visit:
www.ilanpappe.org/
www.resonancefm.com/