Philip Weiss: Israel's New Extremist Defense Minister Denounced Around the World

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

Thank you for donating

If you've made a donation and wish to receive thank you gifts for your donation, be sure to send us your mailing address via our Contact form.

See our thank you gifts for your donation.

The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

Subscribe to our Weekly Summary & receive our FREE Resist Trump window cling

(Car window cling)

Email us with your mailing address at contact@btlonline.org to receive our "Resist Trump/Resist Hate" car window cling!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

BTL Blog

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Special Programming

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Progressive Resources

A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view

Share this content:

|

Subscribe to BTL

Podcasts: direct or via iTunes

Subscribe to Program Summaries, Interview Transcripts or Counterpoint via email or RSS feed

If you have other questions regarding subscriptions, feeds or podcasts/mp3s go to our Audio Help page.

Between The Lines Blog

Stay connected to BTL

Learn how to support our efforts!

Tweets by @BTLRadioNews

Israel's Appointment of Extremist Defense Minister Triggers Alarm Around the World

Posted June 1, 2016

Interview with Philip Weiss, founder and co-editor of the online publication, Mondoweiss.net, conducted by Scott Harris

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to appoint a hard right extremist politician as his nation's new defense minister, has alarmed those working for Middle East peace around the world. Avigdor Lieberman, the founder of the ultranationalist, Yisrael Beitenu party, was named to the post in order to add five new seats to Netanyahu's Likud party governing coalition, which previously held only a one-seat majority in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, or Knesset.

Lieberman is well-known for his racist and incendiary remarks made during his previous posts in government. Some of his most controversial comments include his advocating the beheading of Israeli Arabs, who he deems as disloyal to the state of Israel, the mass deportation of Arab-Israeli citizens, the drowning of Palestinian prisoners, and the bombing of Egypt’s Aswan Dam.

Lieberman replaces Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who, when he resigned, warned that Netanyahu's government had been taken over by "extremist and dangerous elements" and stated that he no longer had faith in the Israeli prime minister. The Palestinian Authority reacted to the appointment by saying, "The Israeli government sent a message to the world that Israel prefers extremism, dedication to the occupation and settlements over peace." Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Philip Weiss, founder and co-editor of the news website Mondoweiss.net, who discusses the significance of Lieberman's appointment as defense minister and recent moves by Bernie Sander's presidential campaign to try to change the Democratic Party platform on the issues of Israel and Palestine.(Rush transcript.)

PHILIP WEISS: Well, it's a huge development in Israeli politics and arguably, this is sort of the most important political shift inside leadership culture ruling class of Israel in the last 20-25 years in which the last defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon quit, a pretty right-wing guy, saying that there were fascist trends in Israel and in a political class and was replaced by this even more right-wing figure, Avigdor Lieberman, who has threatened to blow up the Aswan Dam, who said that any Palestinian who attempts an act of terror should have his head cut off, that kind of stuff.

So he's a very crude and somewhat at times a fascistic leader, Lieberman, and you have this other segment of the Israeli political class saying that the currents there are reminiscent of Nazi Germany, one said. So it's kind of staggering that this is happening and you have also Israeli political observers speaking of this in apocalyptic tones and some suggesting that there could even be a coup in the country against Netanyahu.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Philip, what's been the response to Benjamin Netanyahu's appointment of Avigdor Lieberman to become Israel's defense minister? What kind of ripples have moved across the world because of this appointment?

PHILIP WEISS: On the one hand, there's been some horror over it. Lieberman was refused admission at the State Department last year. They didn't want him coming in because he was too polarizing a figure who had said things like the two-state solution, we want nothing, we're finished with that. The political class in the United States is obviously very upset about this, but they indicated that their special relationship between the countries will continue; they're still our closest ally and all the rest in the Middle East.

But among lovers, defenders of Israel, there has been a crisis. The crisis in the political class in Israel is reflected by a crisis in the Israel lobby in the United States. So these people who spend their lives defending Israel have been in a lot of pain lately. How do they justify this? How do they explain this to Americans and act if Israel is fine? And some of them have said that this is shocking and horrifying and we need to give the society a wake-up call, I guess. And others have said, no, everything's fine. Israel is a vibrant democracy, robust debate, this is what happens over there, people disagree, that kind of stuff. So, we are seeing a crisis. If you have any hope about this society reforming itself in a bloodless fashion, then you have to hope that the defense minister's resignation and the warnings about fascism could result in some real shift in the political choices of the leadership or a segment of the leadership of the Israeli society.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, running for the Democratic party nomination, had an opportunity to appoint five members to a Democratic party platform writing committee. He appointed some very well-known progressive activists that included Bill McKibben, the climate change activist, founder of 350.org; Native American activist Debra Parker; progressive caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, of Minnesota and James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Philip, tell us what the opportunities are and what you hear about the goals of Sanders' representatives on this important platform writing committee in terms of changes to the Democrats' approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict?

PHILIP WEISS: Sanders set a depth-charge on April 14 in New York when he told Hillary Clinton that Netanyahu was not always right. He has determined through these appointments to put some more even-handed policy toward Palestinians inside the Democratic platform. Will it be a fight? Will the Hillary Clinton people give in on this and then run away from the platform? Who knows? But from my narrow standpoint, you have Keith Ellison, a Muslim, Zogby and Cornel West who are going to insist on Palestinian human rights and that is just such a landmark and just such a wonderful moment and could suggest a real shift in American political culture because Sanders has not been defeated for taking this stand. The Democratic base has supported him and that's the key. Young liberals in Americans are increasingly sympathetic to Palestinians over Israelis.

Find articles on Mondoweiss at mondoweiss.net.