Kalam

In a worrying development the Iran war seems to be expanding – in the past few days Saudi Arabia entered the conflict by conducting air strikes on Iraq and in an unprecedented event Egypt was hit by a drone strike. Sam and Edgar discuss Trump's shrinking options and speculate about his next move.

In Gaza there may be reason to be hopeful as Hamas vows to disband if Israel withdraws its troops – we discuss the details.

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Welcome to this special series on the history of the Ba'ath Party which ruled Syria and Iraq for decades. It was the party of Saddam Hussein and Bashar al Assad – dictators who betrayed the party's founding fathers. An odd concoction of Arab Nationalism, Socialism, Nativism and Quasi-Fascism, the Ba'ath went from a relatively obscure group of schoolteachers to the defining political force in the Arab World.

In this first episode, Sam and Edgar discuss the party's beginnings as well as its rise to power.

This episode is available for free – the next three episodes in the series will be available at https://www.patreon.com/kalampodcast

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Sam and Edgar discuss the latest developments surrounding the Iran war, the upcoming Israeli elections, Hamas disbanding the Gaza government and, of course, the World Cup.

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Despite the political fascism in Israel, the daily abuses and ethnic cleansing on the West Bank, the genocide in Gaza and forever wars on Iran and Lebanon, there are those in Israel – both Jewish and Palestinian – who organise resistance. In fact, Standing Together recently launched a new Jewish-Arab political party.

Standing Together describes itself as a force for equal rights, peace and justice. It is worth mentioning here, though, that Israeli human rights organisations like Standing Together, B’Tselem, Yesh Din and Breaking The Silence do not, in any way, represent the majority of Israelis. Not even close. In fact, Israelis opinion polls consistently show that a large majority of Jewish Israelis believe that the war in Gaza is justified, many even calling for a military escalation. Polling also shows widespread support among Israeli Jews for Netanyahu’s wars in Iran and Lebanon, as well as for the occupation of the West Bank.

Despite this fact, however, Standing Together has actually grown in numbers since the 7th of October. So there are parallel processes at play – one Israeli reality is the fascist one, where the government reinstates the death penalty but only for Palestinians, where settler thugs shoot Palestinian children on the West Bank with impunity, where systematic rape is employed in Israeli prisons. Another reality consists of Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Arabs uniting around the most basic of objectives: End the wars, end the occupation, equal rights for all. The problem is that the fascist reality seems to be taking over. However, that does not mean you stop resisting.

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Once again, Israel and Iran trade blows in the seemingly never ending war in the Middle East. As of now, however, tensions seem to have cooled slightly. Joining us to discuss the latest developments as well as some of the geopolitics of the USA, Israel and Iran is Borzou Daragahi, award-winning international journalist.

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