Yesterday we hosted an incredible round table with front line activists and journalist who have held it down for Palestine. We discussed everything from history in the region to mainstream media framing to the importance of connecting dots with struggles to end oppression and colonial rule world-wide. Our guest included; Dr Hatem Bazian a popular professor who teaches Islamic Law and Society at UC Berkeley and also teaches Religious studies at St Mary’s College. He gave some keen historical insight about Gaza and the rest of the region as well as a history in way certain narratives have been shaped by corporate backed interests to describe what is taking place. We talked at length about living in what some call an Information Age where an end goal for imperial powers is to keep a narrative aflota that renders oppressors as victims and victims as oppressors. Batem spoke at length about why we should never forget that Palestine is a colonized state, with Israel and the US dominating and controlling all aspects of her existence. He explained why many have come to overlook this dynamic. You can peep our one on one w/ Dr Bazian by clicking the link below..
On the second part of our show we had a round table discussion with seasoned journalist Nora Barrows Friedman of the Electronic Intifada who talked about the work she’s done over the years both here in the states an in the Middle East in terms of covering this decades old struggle. She talked about how many mainstream journalist are embedded with Israel and its army when covering conflicts which results in a lopsided perspective as to whats happening. She gave us some important insight about issues not being addressed in the media.
Nora also talked about the climate of fear being pushed by pro-Israel lobbyists groups who have attempted to equate criticism of Israel as being anti-semitic. She also talked about how many professors of college campuses have found themselves under the gun for speaking out against Israel or upholding a Palestinian point of view.
Ziad Abbas
Our other guest was Ziad Abbas, who is the Associate Director, of Middle East Children’s Alliance. He is a Palestinian refugee from Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank. He is the co-founder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh. Ziad is also a journalist who has worked with Palestinian and international media and has participated in the production of several documentary films. During our discussion he built upon much of what Hatem had spoken about earlier.
He also gave his own personal accounts into some of the challenges facing Palestinians. He talked about the history of attacks on journalist and talked at length how he and his colleagues have found themselves locked up in Israeli prisons for being bold journalists. Abbas gave us some rich history about shared struggled and connections made with the Palestinian push to end the occupation and other freedom struggles around the world.
Lara Kiswani
Our last guest was Lara Kiswani of the Arab Cultural and Organizing Center. She talked about whether or not there was a generation gap in terms of of those desiring peace and those holding on to tradition and age old grudges. She spoke at length explaining that she didn’t see a generation gap in terms of those who uphold oppressive ideals. She did speak about how many in her generation were very good at building coalitions and linking up with folks from other struggles.
She talked about how globalization has led to many all over the planet seeing themselves in the cross hairs of power elites who have formed their own cliques. She also talked about how urban police forces including our own embattled police force here in Oakland, Ca have actually gone to Israel to get trained. This has not been a good thing as the end result has been increased domestic spying, unfair racial profiling and a heightened perception that sees Muslims and Middle Easterners as enemies who need to be contained.
Click the link below to listen to the pt2 of our Middle East roundtable..
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Former world boxing champion 
Last year during this time Rebel Diaz member G1 was hospitalized in NYC and couldn’t make The Thankstaking Concert in Milwaukee at the legendary bar -The Uptowner.
I long been a big fan of Seattle-based group Canary Sing.. Made up of Madeleine “Lioness” Clifford and 
Comedian 
One year ago today..(November 19th 2011) sadistic police at UC Davis pepper sprayed students who were protesting 300% fee increases. This went all over the world and brought attention to the plight of tens of thousands of students in the UC system.. Too bad it wasn’t the students arguments that caught our attention. The police chief quit, the officer was fired and the chancellor left.. Students who were sprayed got 30k each, but UC is still raising fees even after students organized to pass Prop 30 designed to stop massive fee hikes..
Since the reelection of President Barack Obama, United States “citizens” from over 30 states have filed petitions to formally secede from the Union, and more than 10 have reached the signature requirements that necessitate a response from the Federal government.
For much of the 20th century the far right forces of white supremacy were generally satisfied with the post-Reconstruction reinterpretation of the “states rights” doctrine, which was the result of a set of compromises established at the founding of the United Sates empire between the states that wanted to expand chattel slavery and those that were transitioning to a fully articulated system of wage labor. This reinterpretation rested on the notion that the Southern ruling class interests could continue subjugating the colonized (New) African and Indigenous nations contained in the region for the purposes of having a super-cheap labor force to exploit so long as they accepted the hegemony of the Federal government, which was rooted primarily in the controlling hands of monopoly industrial and finance capitalists based along the Northeastern seaboard. This reinterpretation contained secessionist aspirations for nearly a century, but it never completely vanquished them. The Black Liberation movement of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s weakened the post-Reconstruction “states rights” compromise, and breathed new life into the secessionist movement.
Playing up “states rights” as code for the perpetuation of white supremacy was at the heart of the “
It may also turn out to be brilliant strategy. The “right to secede” is a democratic right and one technically enshrined in the United States constitution. If this right is denied without sufficient political struggle to clarify the issues, particularly by a Black man who is deemed and demonized as a dictator due to his different interpretation of the Constitution and management of the capitalist-imperialist system, it can and will become a rallying cry for the far right that could potentially mobilize millions of white settlers, particularly as there are strong preexisting settler narratives to support and justify their cause (from “don’t tread on me” to “no taxation without representation”), and give life to the civil strife, if not all out war, that many Republican and Tea Party commentators spoke to leading up to the November 6th elections.
So, this movement is something that progressive forces should pay attention to and think strategically about. And not because progressive forces should be aiming to preserve the political or structural integrity of the United States as it is presently constituted. We have to remember that there is nothing sacred or sacrosanct about the present borders of the settler states that comprise the so-called Union. This government and these borders have not always existed, are not inherently legitimate, and definitely have not served the interests of Indigenous, African, Xicano, Puerto Rican, and other colonized and oppressed peoples who live on the Great Turtle island (one of the Indigenous names of the North America continent). Rather, our primary interest should be protecting our people, exploring solutions that will advance our total liberation, and combating the repression these reactionary forces are and will direct against us. As the contradictions of this imperial society become more acute, we need to be as aware and prepared as possible to address them with sufficient organization in the pursuit of our own interests – least we be caught unaware and used as pawns once again to preserve the “white man’s systems”.
1-Why there is a sudden change of heart within the GOP to be more inclusive and friendly with Latinos? We talked about the need to have cheap labor and use Latinos as a voting bloc.
4-We discussed the deeper meanings behind migration. Our guest gave a historic and cultural breakdown of migration, noting that it’s a behavior all human beings and most creatures do. You move from one place to another for survival, food, etc..
I always find this concept of 
I recall during the height of the Black Power movements, in the 60s and 70s groups like the Nation of Islam (then known as the Black Muslims) along with others called for a nation within a nation. It was a type of secession of sorts. Leaders felt like the Democrats and Republicans were morally corrupt. They felt the Federal government was a sham and ideally things would get better if the nation’s Black population could take over the states they tilled the land for as slaves and call it a day. Freedom from oppression was the guiding force. Black folks were looking to get their 40 Acres and mule as promised by the Feds. Perhaps this will happen under the Republic of Texas. Broken promises shall be honored right?
There are many Chicano’s here in Texas who can recall the heights of the 
Over the past few weeks The Cypress Times has carried several opinion pieces in our Op/Ed Section from supporters of the Texas Nationalist Movement. The Texas Nationalist Movement supports Texas secession, and the establishment of a free and independent Texas.