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Every Friday at 9:30amAbout the Show
Understanding Israel Palestine
This show is inspired by Citizens for Justice in the Middle East, a local group that has advocated for 20 years for a fair and even-handed U.S. foreign policy that recognizes the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis. Our program offers interviews with journalists, scholars, policy experts and activists to offer multiple perspectives, and to clarify the underlying issues that are often obscured by headline news.
The Rev. Alex Awad, formerly a United Methodist missionary in Jerusalem, laments that the existence and experience of Christian Palestinians is largely ignored by Christians in the United States. He talks about bringing his experience as a Palestinian Christian to Evangelical Christians in the U.S. whose eschatological views lead them to blindly support Israel and ignore the suffering of the indigenous people of Palestine. Rev Awad says the United States has never been an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians from the time of Truman to today.
Mideast expert Dr. James Zogby, managing director of Zogby Research Services, speaks about the realities that prevail on the West Bank today and the responsibility of the U.S. Congress for de facto and de jure Israeli annexation. Zogby describes the de-development of Palestine due to the terms of the Oslo Accord.
Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, discusses efforts by the pro-Israel lobby to secure advantages for Israeli companies in Virginia beyond what U.S. companies have and how U.S. counter-intelligence and the Justice Department turn a blind eye to Israeli espionage and infractions. Smith says the U.S. effort to protect Israel’s nuclear ambiguity has undermined the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and U.S. credibility in the world.
