On the eighteenth of June, 2008 the Egyptian government brokered a truce between the Israeli government and Hamas. How is this truce holding up? And what has been the situation in Gaza since the truce was called?
Julia Terreu spoke to journalist and International Womens’ Peace Service member Kim Bullimore, who is currently stationed in Gaza.
How do different Christian demoninations in the United States of America relate to the nation of Israel?
Julia Terreu spoke to Ramzy Baroud from Palestine Chronicle.
The American government is conducting a massive surveillance operation called “Maincorp”, which targets American civilians.
Julia Terreu spoke with freelance journalist Christopher Ketcham.
Julia Terreu spoke with Chris Carlson a constributer to Venezuela Analysis about the Interpol report and its findings.
Julia Terreu and Paris Dean spoke with Murial Mirak-Weissbach, a frequent contributer to Global Research
Guantanamo Bay is a U.S.A. military base currently being used as a gaol for people the U.S.A. considers terrorism suspects and enemy combatants. How did the U.S.A. acquire this territory? What is the history behind it?
Julia Terreu and Paris Dean spoke to Freeda Berringer, the senior program associate at the Arms and Security Project of the New America Foundation and is a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus.
The bio-tech industry, which engineers genetically-modified foods, is promoting itself as an industry combatting climate change. Julia Terreu spoke to Hope Shand, who is a research director for the ETC Group.
“The Erased” are the eighteen thousand residents of Slovenia whom in 1992 the Slovenian government stripped of their citizenship. Julia Terreu spoke to John Feffer from Foreign Policy In Focus.
In February, 2008 Pakistan held its first elections after protests and political unrest followed the sacking of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice Iftinkar Chaudery. The election resulted in a coalition between the Pakistani Peoples’ Party and the Pakistani Muslim League. Many Pakistanis believed the coalition would bring more democracy, stability and the reinstatement of Chaudery as Chief Justice. But has the Pakistani government done these things?
Julia Terreu and Paris Dean spoke to Farooq Tariq from the Labor Party of Pakistan.
A debate is under way in the United States of America as to whether the Iraqi or American government should pay for the reconstruction of Iraq. We spoke to Erik Leaver, who is the Outreach Director for Foreign Policy In Focus.
Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of the African palm oil tree (Elaeis guineensis). It is an ingredient in many products and can be used as a feedstock for biofuel. However, in South East Asia, to make way for palm oil plantations, rainforests are being cleared and indigenous people are being forcibly evicted from their lands. Also, toxic, pollutive pesticides are used on the palm oil crops. We spoke to Martin Pritchard from Palm Oil Action Group and Friends Of The Earth.
The war on Iraq has seen the displacement of thousands of Iraqi citizens into to the surrounding countries. Women are particularly vulnerable and The United Nations High Commissioner has seen a pattern of Iraqi women turning to prostitution.
Julia Terreu spoke to freelance journalist Rana Al Aube, who focused on the issue of Iraqi refugees in Syria.
ECPAT is an organisation dedicated to combatting the commercial sexual exploitation of children, such as child pornography, child sex tourism, child prostitution and child sex slavery. The Australian branch of ECPAT is also known as Childwise.
Matt Buckley spoke to Bernadette McEnamin, the founder and CEO of Childwise.
Luis Posada Carriles is wanted in Venezuela and Cuba for terrorism. However, currently he is living in the United States of America, and the U.S.A. government refuses to extradite him.
We spoke to Carol Williams, the Caribbean bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times.
The Israeli public housing company Amidar is attempting to evict 497 Palestinian Arab Israelis from their homes.
We spoke to Muhammed Zeidan from the Arab Association for Human Rights
The Howard govenrment’s intervention into Australian Aboriginal communities in the Northern Terretory marks as yet another intervention which has failed the Aboriginal inhabitants of this nation. The Northern Terretory intervention has been inherited by the new Federal Government in office , headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Are we likely to see new developments?
We spoke with Jon Altman, the director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University.
The private contracting of intelligence work is now firlmy entrenched in the hands of various private contractors based in the US. L-3/Titan is one of those companies that is involved in Intelligence service to the US Military establishment.
We spoke with Pratab Chaterjee from corp-watch, who has completed a mojor report on L-3/Titan.
The National Womens Working Centre in Australia has been threatened by the Federal Government cutting back its funding, which would mean the closing down of the National body.
Catherine Zengerer, a Radio Adelaide Journalist spoke to Sandra Dann, the director of the South Australian wing of the Womens Working centre.
Western Sahara is a territory on the north-west coast of Africa that has been annexed by Morocco since 1975. We spoke to Kamal Fadel from the Australia Western Sahara Association.
The growing population of undocumented immigrants in the USA is astonishing, the consequences of this has meant that many immigrants face exploitation and discrimination.
We spoke with Ana Avendaño an Associate general Council and Director, Immigrant Worker program of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Oranisations (AFL-CIO).
Tibet is a country that has been annexed by China since 1951. The Chinese Government has transmigrated members of its own population to Tibet and has suppressed Tibetan culture, language and dissent.
We spoke with Matt Wade, Dharamsala correspondent with several Australian newspapers.
The Headscarf has become a polorising issue for all political parties in Turkey and is proving to be a divisive instrument of both the right and the left of the political spectrum.
To talk to us about the debates in Turkey is professor of global and international studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara, she also writes for Middle East Report.
China is the world’s most populous nation with the world’s fastest-growing economy. Is the growth of the Chinese economy having a positive effect on the Chinese population and environment?
We spoke with Professor Mobo Gao, who is Chair of Chinese Studies and Director of the Confucius Institute at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide.
Diego Garcia is one of the Chagos Islands, and is the site of a strategically-located United States military base. In order to establish the base, the Chagos Islanders were forcibly expelled by the British Government and have since been struggling for the right to return.
We spoke the American University’s Assistant Professor of Anthropology David Vine, who is working on a book - Island Of Shame: The Secret History Of Exile And Empire On Diego Garcia. The book is due out in March/April 2009.
With an impending election in 2009, the Bachelet govenrment is facing a population which has become disillusioned with the progress of its social policy and its shift to the right.
We spoke with Rodriog Acuna, a freelance journalist based in Sydney who epecialises in Latin American politics.
Drew Hutton is a long time social activist. He began protesting the Vietnam War during the Bjelke-Peterson years in Queensland and has maintained his activisim since. Now, he’s most heavily involved in environmental issues and is a member of both the State and Federal Green Party.
We spoke with him on his recent visit to Adelaide.
Cuba has been classified by the World Wild Life fund as the only sustainable nation in the world, since the fall of the soviet union Cuba had to instigate radical change in order to meet the needs of their population. How did Cuba become the only current sustainbale nation in the world?
With spoke with Roberto Perez a Cuban biologist and Permaculturalist who is one of the leaders of the Cuban Example.
Jose Luis Rodrigues Zapatero, the leader of the Spanish SocialistWorkers Party (PSOE) was returned to power in the elections held 9th of march 2008. However neither the Socialist party of Zapatero nor the opposition Popular Party (PP) were able to win a clear majority. What was the platform the socialist party took to Spanish citizens? and what is likely to face the Zapatero government in the coming years?
To give us context on the Spanish elections we spoke with Pablo Ouziel who is an activist, freelance writer and sociologist based in Spain. He has written for diverse media including Znet, Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.
Hugo Chavez has dramatically impacted the population in Venezuala through his program ‘Socialism in the 21st Century’ and his criticism of neo-liberalism and US foreign policy in Latin America.
We spoke with Frederico Fuentes, an Australian journalist who writes for the Green Left Weekly and Venezuala Analysis.
The recent Colombian military incursion into
We spoke to Robert Naiman, a Senior Policy Analyst and National Coordinator at Just Foreign Policy. Naiman has worked as a policy analyst and researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. He has masters degrees in economics and mathematics from the
Kim Bullemoore is a volunteer for the International Womens Peace Service and a journalist for Green Left Weekly. Here, she speaks to the Backstory team about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
60 years ago the state of
We spoke to Paul Heywood-Smith who is chairperson of the Friends of Palestine Association about why he thinks the speech was both unnecessary and insensitive.
Kosovars just voted for independence from Serbia. But, not everyone thinks that’s a good idea.
We spoke with Kim Bytyci and George Szamuely.
Paris Dean and Jake Wishart spoke to regular columnist and veteran journalist Mike Aarons, author of ‘
The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) force has been in place since 2003. Sent to quell violence erupting ver issues of independence and land rights between the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita, the RAMSI force has had an unsettled tenure. With a new federal government in Australia are we likely to see any difference in the way the RAMSI force operates.
We spoke with Tim Anderson, lecturer at the School of Political Economy, Sydney University and a member of the Committee of Management of AID/WATCH.
Arch enemy number one for the US government, Fidel Castro, hasstepped down as the leader of Cuba and handed over to his Vice President and brother, Raúl. So, what for Cuba now?
We spoke with Saul Landau,scholar, author, commentator, and filmmaker on US foreign and domestic policy issues.
The National Party was the governing party of South Africa from June 4, 1948 until May 9, 1994, and was disbanded in 2005. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a republic, and the promotion of Afrikaner culture
We spoke with Christi van der Westhuizen - an editor with Inter Press Service and an honorary research fellow with the School of Politics, University of KwaZulu-Natal - about her new book on the rise and fall of the National Party.
With all the focus on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan not as much attention is paid to the enormous build up of arms and the political manoeuvrings that are occurring in Northern Asia. The US, China, Russia, North and South Korea, and Japan have all been involved in brokering a deal between the US and North Korea to end the stand-off between these two nations.
We spoke with John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the International Relations Center about the relations between the countries and its impact on the region.
This week, Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, opened the Australian Parliament with a formal statement saying sorry to the members of the Stolen Generation.
We spoke with Mary Hooker, one of the Stolen Generation and member of the Stolen Generation Commmission in NSW.
Japan and China have a long history of conflict. In the 970s the two countries normalised relations but, there still is a lot f bad feeling between the two nations which continues to frustrate closer ties.
We spoke with Professor Mel Gurtov, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Perspective, on his ideas fro reconciling the two great Asian nations.
Since the term of President Emile Lahoud came to an end, the Lebanese Parliament has attempted to meet 13 times to choose the next President but every time negotiations have broken down. This despite the two major factions in the Parliament both happy with the suggested candidate.
We spoke with Timor Goksel, for 25 years the spokesman for United Nations Interiom Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and now lecturing in politics at the American University of Beirut.
The protracted nomination process for the US Presidential candidates for the next election is dragging on at present. It’s about halfway through and the numbers are finally beginning to thin - John McCain appears to have the Republican nomination sown up but Hilllary Clinaton and Barack Obama are slugging it out to become the Domocrat nominee.
We spoke with Professor Stepehen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at San Francisco University. He has served as a US political analyst for local, national, and international radio and television, and is a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter and CommonDreams.org.
On the 27th January, former President of Indonesia, Suharto, passed away. We spoke with Professor Tim Lindsey, Director of the Asian Law Centre & Associate Dean (International) in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne, about the Suharto legacy.
After some months of covert work, members of Hamas managed to pull donw the wall between Gaza and Egypt and thousands of Gazans flooded across the border to stock up on the essentials denied to them by the constant Israeli blockade of Gaza.
We spoke with Jeff Halper, founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories.
Violence has erupted in Kenya following Presidential elections in December. People took to the streets claiming the election counting was rigged. Over six hundred people were killed as the government cracked down on the protests.
We spoke with Professor Horace G. Campbell, Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University in Syracuse New York. Professor Campbell is the author of several books, his laste being “Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation”
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