Clearing The Fog With Co-hosts Margaret Flowers And Kevin Zeese

On July 18, 2024, the World Court (aka the International Court of Justice) issued an advisory opinion that found Israel to be an illegal occupation of Palestine and that the settlements must be dismantled, Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes and they must be paid reparations. International human rights lawyer Francis Boyle talks to Clearing the FOG about how the court's opinion came about, what it means and how it can be used by activists in their communities to end the genocide in Palestine. Boyle explains why now is the time to escalate out actions and end the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This week, Clearing the FOG is in Nicaragua to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. Host Margaret Flowers speaks with Becca Renk of the Nicaragua Solidarity Network. Renk has lived in Nicaragua for over 20 years. She describes the changes made during the second period of the Sandinista Revolution and how it compares to life under the neoliberal period. She also describes the nationwide festivities organized to celebrate the anniversary of the overthrow of the Somoza Dictatorship, the ongoing economic war on Nicaragua being waged by the United States and the steps Nicaraguans are taking to protect the revolution. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On July 29, 2022, the FBI raided seven properties connected to the African People's Socialist Party/Uhuru Movement and fabricated charges against three prominent members: Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel, Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, and Penny Hess, Chair of the African People’s Solidarity Committee. They are facing up to 15 years in jail for speaking out against the proxy war in Ukraine. Their trial is currently scheduled for September 3. Clearing the FOG spoke with Penny Hess and Leonard Goodman, a criminal defense attorney with the Uhuru Legal Team. Mr. Goodman made the point that if this trial succeeds, political speech may be considered disinformation even if it is true. Learn more about the trial and how to support the Uhuru Three as they put the US government on trial. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Members of the US military, inspired by the actions of Aaron Bushnell and Larry Hebert, have launched a campaign with Veterans for Peace, Appeal to Redress V2, to encourage other active duty military to contact Congress and demand a ceasefire in Palestine. And, 12 government officials who resigned over US policy in Gaza, Palestine and Israel released a statement just before the Fourth of July on the conditions in Gaza and steps that the US government must take to end the genocide in Palestine and repression of dissent at home. Clearing the FOG speaks with a Sargent, who wishes to remain anonymous, and Alex Smith, a former USAID employee who specializes in maternal and child health and international law. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

In a landmark legal case, Chiquita Banana was convicted by a federal court in Florida of funding a paramilitary death squad, the United Self Defense Force of Colombia (AUC in Spanish), in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The AUC murdered thousands of workers and used Chiquita ports and boats to move cocaine and weapons. This is the first time a US corporation has been held accountable for committing human rights abuses in another country. Clearing the FOG spoke with Professor Terry Karl, who was an expert in the case, about what happened, how Chiquita will now work to cover up its misdeeds and the impact this case will have. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Two members of Veterans for Peace participated in a recent delegation to South Korea to mark the anniversary of two young girls who were killed by a US tank during a military exercise. Clearing the FOG speaks with Ellen Barfield, a long time activist who was on delegation and who was serving in South Korea in 1980 when the massacre of students and leftists occurred in Gwangju, about the trip and the ongoing war in Korea. Barfield also discusses the RIMPAC military exercises that begin this week in the Pacific and the veteran-led Peace Walk that is headed to Washington, DC for the anti-NATO activities starting the weekend of July 6 and 7. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Many experts, such as former weapons inspector Scott Ritter and the Secretary General of the United Nations, are warning that the world is at the highest risk for a nuclear war in decades. Yet, the United States continues to prevent nuclear treaties from existing, refuses to join the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty and is escalating aggression against major nuclear states, including giving Israel carte blanche to defy international law. Clearing the FOG speaks with Alice Slater, who worked to bring the Nuclear Ban Treaty into existence and currently works with a number of groups to prevent nuclear war. Slater discusses the history of nuclear weapons and the growing risk of war as more countries consider arming themselves, as well as what we need to do to prevent nuclear annihilation. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Africa is rising but the neo-colonial and imperialist forces in the corporate media are working to control the narrative in their favor. To counter this, journalist and international political scholar, Ahmed Kaballo, started a new media outlet, AfricanStream.media, that reports in English primarily on social media targeting youth. Clearing the FOG speaks with Kaballo about the shifts occurring on the African continent and how African Stream is already impacting the dialogue within and outside of Africa. Kaballo also discusses Libya, events in the Sahel Region, South Africa and Sudan and how their coverage of Palestine is changing minds. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives recently turned twenty years old. Clearing the FOG speaks with Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, a professor and author of "Collective Courage: A History of African-American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice," and a charter member of the USFWC, about the work to create a national cooperative organization and the rise of the cooperative economy in the United States. She spoke about the role that cooperatives have played in advancing social and economic justice, the benefits of cooperatives not only to the individual but also more broadly to their communities, and the history of cooperatives that preceded the rise of capitalism and also how cooperative economies offer a better alternative to capitalism. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

In 1954, the landmark decision by the Supreme Court, Brown versus the Board of Education, established that the segregation of students based on race was no longer legal. Seventy years later, schools remain highly segregated and the education system is becoming more unequal. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jennifer Berkshire, a licensed school teacher, journalist and author of the new book, "The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual," about the forces behind the defunding and privatization of education in the United States. Berkshire describes nontraditional coalitions that are forming at the state level to stop voucher programs. Some are having success. She also explains how rightwing ideology has infected Democrats and liberals in this struggle. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The United States announced that it will remove its troops from Niger in September after the government ordered them to leave. Mali and Burkina Faso have done the same. Chad is the most recent country in the Sahel Region of Africa to order the US out. This follows a wave of resistance against French colonization in the region. Clearing the FOG speaks with Abayomi Azikiwe of Pan African News Wire about the growing resistance in the Sahel and the United States. He discusses the unfulfilled promises of the Biden administration and the uncommitted movement in this presidential election. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This week, Clearing the FOG speaks with Ann Wright, a retired Colonel, former State Department official and prominent peace activist. Wright, who resigned in protest of the Iraq War from the State Department in 2003, speaks about recent resignations over the genocide in Gaza and the Biden administration's new report on Palestine. She also discusses the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which is ready to sail but is being prevented from doing so, and the protests and activities being planned for this July when the NATO leaders meet in Washington, DC around the 75th anniversary of its founding. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

As Congress begins the process of putting the next farm bill together, a coalition of farmers with Farm Action Fund has organized a tour to demand a food system that centers the needs of smaller farmers and reins in Big Ag. Clearing the FOG speaks with Christian Lovell, a cattle farmer from Illinois and the Senior Director of Programs for Farm Action Fund, about the challenges for small and medium farms in our monopolized food system, the connections between agriculture and the environment, climate crisis and local economies, and what people can do to build a better system. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

From April 18 to 20, more than 500 activists from around the world gathered in Caracas, Venezuela for the "World Gathering for a Social Alternative." The meeting was convened by the Simon Bolivar Institute and the ALBA Movement, and it was followed by an ALBA-TCP leaders summit, which included the ten ALBA countries and Honduras. Clearing the FOG speaks with Carlos Ron, president of the Simon Bolivar Institute, about the urgency of the gathering, what will come out of it and the next steps. Ron shared the progress Venezuela has made under the Bolivarian Revolution, the retaliation against Venezuela primarily by the United States and the importance of connecting social movements to confront the many global crises of this era. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Nicaragua is a human-rights oriented nation that takes international laws and its obligations under the Genocide Convention seriously. It was the first nation to file a Declaration of Intervention with the International Court of Justice in support of South Africa's case against Israel and recently filed a case against Germany accusing it of being complicit in Israel's genocide. Clearing the FOG speaks with Dr. Carlos Arguello Gomez, Nicaragua's ambassador to The Netherlands and a lawyer with decades of experience in the World Court, about the actions Nicaragua has taken, what they hope will be the result and Nicaragua's 1984 case against the United States. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

In Guatemala, during the government of Fernando Romeo Lucas García from 1978 to 1982, genocidal acts, sexual violence and other crimes against humanity were committed against Indigenous people in Ixil. After 40 years, victims of these crimes are finally having their day in court in a case against the president's brother, Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, who served as the Chief of General Staff of the Army. Clearing the FOG speaks with Michelle Liang and Sarasuadi Ochoa of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) about the case, the work done to demand accountability and the powerful indigenous activism that prevented a recent coup attempt. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Gaza has been under a blockade for over 15 years that created bare subsistence conditions for Palestinians, but since October 7, 2023, the noose has been tightened. Palestinians are dying of starvation and dehydration in addition to the massacres committed by Israeli soldiers. In Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC-Pal) has been struggling to provide water and materials to Palestinians to grow food and has been purchasing produce to provide to families in need. Clearing the FOG speaks with Fuad Abu Saif, director of UAWC-Pal, about their work and the global days of fasting in solidarity with Palestine. The next one is April 13. Click here to donate to the UAWC-Pal. Clearing the FOG also speaks with USAF Airman Larry Hebert, an active duty member of the military who began an open-ended hunger strike on March 31 to press the Biden administration for a ceasefire and an end to the starvation of Palestinians. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On March 17, the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) held its first Global Call to Action as a webinar moderated by Ajamu Baraka of The Black Alliance for Peace and featuring Azhar Sakoor, a lawyer and executive with the Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League in South Africa, Marcy Winograd with CODEPINK, Pavel Wargan, the Coordinator of the Secretariat at the Progressive International, Lamis Deek, a Palestinian born and internationally practicing attorney based in New York, and Fuad Abu Saif, Director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees - Palestine. Listen to some of their presentations edited here for the program. You can watch the full webinar at PopularResistance.org: https://popularresistance.org/international-coalition-to-stop-genocide-in-palestine-global-call-for-action/. 

On March 11, de facto Haitian President Ariel Henry resigned after being unable to return from a trip to Kenya where he attempted to sign an agreement for military intervention in his country. Social movements shut down the airport in Port-au-Prince and neither the Dominican Republic nor the United States were willing to assist his return. Clearing the FOG speaks with journalist and filmmaker Kim Ives of Haiti Liberte, who has covered events in Haiti for decades. Ives says the current revolutionary moment is unprecedented and describes how the popular movement is organizing to wrest control from Western imperialists that have been occupying Haiti since the coup against President Aristide in 2004. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.  

"Nobody thought the conflict in Ukraine would last this long," states Scott Ritter, a former Marine intelligence officer and weapons inspector, as the second anniversary of Russia's special military operation is reached. Ritter predicts that the conflict will end within the year, but there are no positive outcomes. He warns that Ukraine will cease to exist, NATO will disband or alter fundamentally and the risk of nuclear war is high. Ritter also discusses the resignation of Victoria Nuland, revelations from the leaked conversation by German military officers and how the façade of US military dominance has been shattered by events in Ukraine and Western Asia. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.