Syria
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Part 2: Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth on Palestinian Prisoners, Saudi Arabia’s Role in Bahrain
Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]May 08, 2012 | Blog Post -
Back from Syria, Journalist Anand Gopal Warns Protesters "Face Slaughter" by Assad Regime
Journalist Anand Gopal has just returned from Syria, where he interviewed survivors of last week’s bloody battle for the town of Taftanaz in northern Syria. Reports say government forces continue to attack rebel strongholds in Homs, Hama and other cities in violation of a U.N.-backed ceasefire that took effect last week....April 19, 2012 | Story -
Part 2: Father of Peace Studies, Johan Galtung, on Occupy Wall Street, Failed U.N. Response in Syria
In part two of our conversation with Johan Galtung, he discusses Occupy Wall Street, which he considers "deeply American, in the most positive sense," and why the United Nations’ responses to Syria have failed to bring peace. [includes rush transcript]April 17, 2012 | Blog Post -
Nada Bakri, Widow of Anthony Shadid, on Her Husband’s Life and Posthumous Memoir, "House of Stone"
We speak with Nada Bakri, the widow of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony Shadid, about her husband’s passion for covering the Middle East and his posthumous memoir. "House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East" chronicles Shadid’s rebuilding of his family’s ancestral home...March 08, 2012 | Story
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Debate: Attacking Iran, AIPAC , Israel-Palestine and Obama with Rashid Khalidi and Jonathan Tobin
President Obama addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday, assuring the pro-Israel lobbying group he will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran and reiterating his unwavering support for Israel. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Obama at the White House today, we host a debate...March 05, 2012 | Story -
Amnesty International’s Salil Shetty: Arms Embargo, Human Rights Monitors Needed for Syria Crisis
The death toll in Syria has reportedly topped 7,500 after 11 months of the government’s crackdown on anti-government protesters and armed rebels. Activists say more than 250 people have died in the past two days alone, mostly from government shelling in Homs and Hama province. We speak with the secretary general of Amnesty...February 29, 2012 | Story -
Foreign Intervention in Syria? A Debate with Joshua Landis and Karam Nachar
With estimates of well over 5,000 deaths, the uprising in Syria is believed to be the Arab Spring’s bloodiest conflict to date. As the toll mounts, calls are growing for the international community to intervene by arming rebels fighting the Assad regime and even direct military intervention. We host a debate on the merits...February 22, 2012 | Story -
As Calls for Intervention in Syria Grow, Vijay Prashad Urges Reevaluation of NATO Attack on Libya
Libya has just marked the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule. But as Libya celebrates a new era free of the Gaddafi regime, there are growing concerns the country’s lingering divisions will tear it apart. Libya remains deeply splintered by regions and...February 21, 2012 | Story -
Anthony Shadid (1968-2012): Pulitzer-Winning NY Times Middle East Correspondent Dies in Syria
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid has died at the age of 43. Shadid died of an apparent asthma attack on Thursday while covering the conflict in Syria. An American of Lebanese descent who spoke fluent Arabic, Shadid captured dimensions of life in the Middle East that many others failed...February 17, 2012 | Story -
Anthony Shadid, 43, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Middle East Correspondent, Dies in Syria
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid died of an apparent asthma attack today while covering the conflict in Syria. One of the most celebrated journalists covering the Middle East, Shadid, 43, had been a guest on Democracy Now! several times over the past decade reporting on Libya, Tunisia,...February 16, 2012 | Blog Post -
A Struggle for Regional Supremacy: Syria Conflict Escalates as World Powers Debate Assad’s Future
Syria is seeing some of the worst violence of the 11-month uprising against Bashar al-Assad amid an ongoing international standoff over how to respond. Assad’s forces have launched what appears to be one of their fiercest assaults on the flashpoint city of Homs to date. Both the United States and Britain have closed their...February 07, 2012 | Story -
Syrian Activist Speaks from Hiding: The Bloodshed is Continuing Despite International Criticism
Street battles are raging at the gates of the Syrian capital of Damascus, and activists say at least 62 people were killed nationwide on Sunday. This comes as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Syrian leadership, particularly President Bashar al-Assad, to end the violence against the demonstrators...January 30, 2012 | Story -
Syrian Activist Speaks Out from Hiding as Arab League Mission Fails to Slow Deadly Crackdown
Syrian troops continue to fire on protesters despite a visit by Arab League monitors to assess the Assad regime’s compliance with a plan to resolve the country’s political crisis. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the nine-month-long uprising. We’re joined from Damascus by Bassel, a Syrian activist...December 29, 2011 | Story -
As Syria Toll Tops 5,000, Activist in Hiding Urges Global Action to Stop Assad Regime Crackdown
International pressure on the Syrian regime is increasing as the death toll there continues to rise. This week the United Nations estimated the death toll in Syria since March has surpassed 5,000, including hundreds of children. "The regime is given time after time to kill more people and more civilians," says Razan...December 15, 2011 | Story -
Glenn Greenwald: Is Obama Fulfilling the Neocon Dream of Mass Regime Change in Muslim World?
Political blogger Glenn Greenwald recently wrote about retired General Wesley Clark’s recollection of an officer telling him in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks that the then-U.S. Secretary of Defense had issued a memo outlining a plan for regime change within five years in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan...November 28, 2011 | Story -
Syrian Human Rights Lawyer Razan Zaitouneh Speaks from Hiding, Says Over 4,000 Killed in Uprising
Daily protests continue in Syria even as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates the government has killed more than 3,500 people during the last eight months in its attempt to silence a growing popular uprising. Over the weekend, protesters carried out a general strike in several cities....November 14, 2011 | Story -
Arab League Suspends Syria, Concern Grows over Foreign Intervention to End Crisis
Today the European Union decided to impose sanctions on 18 Syrians in response to the killings of protesters by Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad. The move comes after the Arab League formally suspended the Syrian delegation on Saturday over its violent crackdown on eight months of protests. In a new report, Human...November 14, 2011 | Story -
A Lifetime of Resistance in Syria
Democracy Now! correspondent, Sharif Abdel Kouddous profiles renowned Syrian human rights lawyer, Haitham al-Maleh, for The Nation magazine. Maleh, 81, has spent most of his life fighting against government oppression in Syria. Today, he believes victory could be at hand.September 02, 2011 | Blog Post -
Amnesty International Decries Assad Regime’s "Brutal" Crackdown on Syrian Protesters
The top legal official in the embattled Syrian city of Hama has defected to the opposition in protest of what he called crimes against humanity committed by security forces. Many of the incidents he has referred to are documented in a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International on the killing and torture of anti-government...September 01, 2011 | Story -
Ex-Bush Official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: "I am Willing to Testify" If Dick Cheney is Put on Trial
As former Vice President Dick Cheney publishes his long-awaited memoir, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "This is a book written out of fear, fear that one day someone will 'Pinochet' Dick Cheney," says Wilkerson, alluding to the former Chilean dictator...August 30, 2011 | Story
By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals. Unlike Allen, many decorated U.S. military veterans left the streets of Chicago after the NATO summit without their medals.
In an extended interview, David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, discusses the history of the company, why they put sustainability and social justice ahead of profits, the organic and GMO labeling movements, the U.S. war on hemp, and why they refuse to sell out. [includes rush transcript]
Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]



