Dec, 2011 Show;

Arab Spring 2011, an end of the year overview.

To listen to this show please click here!

An interview with Nada Alwadi, a Bahraini journalist and researcher with the International Center for Non-violent Conflicts, and with Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya a sociologist and correspondent for Global Research, a Canadian research institute. Nada was in Bahrain during the uprising and Mahdi was in Libya during the NATO bombardment.

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization was granted The Prize of the Mexican Press Club (Club de Periodistas de Mexico) for his outstanding achievements and writings as a War Correspondent for the Independent media.

Nazemroaya was a witness to the "Arab Spring" in action in North Africa. While on the ground in Libya during the NATO bombing campaign, he reported out of Tripoli for several Western media. He was Special Correspondent for Global Research and Pacifica's investigative radio program Flashpoints, broadcast out of Berkeley, California.

Nov. 2011 Show;

Diplomatic Stalemate and Democratic Revolts: Making Sense of a Middle East in Transition; 


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Rami G. Khouri (www.ramikhouri.com), editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star and an award-winning journalist and scholar, talked at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Portland. Rami is a Palestinian-Jordanian and US citizen whose family resides in Beirut, Amman, and Nazareth. He is the Director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. Mr. Khouri is an internationally syndicated political columnist and author. Rami was a visiting scholar at Stanford University in October 2006, and in November 2006, he was the co-recipient of the Pax Christi International Peace Award for his efforts to bring peace and reconciliation to the Middle East.
This is the Q&A after the lecture that Mr. Khouri answered many questions that explain current situation in the region.

September 2011 Show;

Libya after the fall of Tripoli

program date:
Wed, 09/14/2011
To Listen to this interview please click here!

After 6 months of heavy bombardment by and military assistance from NATO and some Arab countries Libyan capital Tripoli fell and now is under the control of the Libyan Transitional National Council. Countries from all across the world have recognized the TNC as the only representative of the people of Libya, but the struggle is not over. Several cities are still in control of the forces loyal to colonel Ghadafi and the African Union is still refusing to recognize what has replaced one of the friendlier leaders of the African nations.



In this program Goudarz Eghtedari of the Voices of the Middle East interviews Professor Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco, an authority in the Middle East Studies stephenzunes.org, and Mahdi Darius Nazemoroaya, a sociologist and research associate with the Center for Research on Globalization, www.globalresearch.ca , who has been reporting from within the country for the past 3 months on dispatch by Global Research and Pacifica.

August 2011 Show;

Iranian Opposition Group spends millions of $$$ on US Politicians to be removed from the State Dept. terrorists list.
Program date:
Fri, 08/12/2011

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Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor are reporting that an Iranian opposition group, Mujahedin Khalgh Organization of Iran (aka MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCRI,...) has spent millions of dollars booking American and European politicians to support their campaign to reverse European Union and State Department's decision to list them as a foreign terrorist organization.

Voices of the Middle East's Goudarz Eghtedari interviews Jamal Abdi, policy director with National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and Dr. Evan Siegel, NJ City University about MKO and its campaign over the years against Shah's regime and now the Islamic Republic and its evolution from a marxist Islamist organization to now aligning with neo-cons in the US.

Evan Siegel received his PhD in Mathematics from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2000, his MSc in Mathematics from New York University, and his BSc in Mathematics from MIT. He is currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics at New Jersey City University. In addition to his interest in Mathematics, Siegel's interest in the history of the Middle East and his numerous publications and conferences have established him as a prominent expert of the field in the academic circles. Siegel does research in sources in Persian, French, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, German, and Georgian.^[1]

• Editorial board member of The Journal of Azerbaijani Studies. http://www.khazar.org/jas/text/volume2.html
• Corresponding Secretary of the International Society for Azerbaijani Studies.

Jamal Abdi joined the National Iranian American Council as Policy Director in November 2009, directing NIAC’s efforts to monitor policies and legislation, and to educate and advocate on behalf of the Iranian-American community. Abdi joined NIAC’s team following his work in the US Congress as Policy Advisor to Representative Brian Baird (D-WA). As one of a small number of Iranian Americans working on the Hill, he served as a Congressional advisor, liaison, and expert on foreign affairs, immigration, and defense.  Prior to coming to DC, Abdi worked in his home state of Washington as a field organizer for national Congressional elections, coordinating and establishing grassroots campaign efforts in Seattle and Bellevue. 

June 2011 Show;

A dialogue with Dr. Yahya Abdul-Rahman on the topic of his lecture in Oregon "The Theology of the Other in Islam: An American Muslim Perspective" and Islamic Banking system, a concept of interest-free financing.

Friday June 10, 2011 at 9 AM
KBOO 90.7 FM
Click here for Podcast!



Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman is author of "The Art of Islamic Banking and Finance" and author of many papers on Islamic Financing & Islamic Financial Instruments, Dr. Abdul-Rahman has more than 37 years of experience in International Banking and Project Financing. This includes having been a member of the Founding Board of Directors of a U.S. bank in Houston, Texas and Chairman of the Resources International Corporation, also in Houston. In 1987, Dr. Abdul-Rahman founded the American Finance House- LARIBA in Pasadena, California. Specializing in interest-free lending, the American Finance House is among the most respected names in finance in the world and is frequently profiled in the domestic and international media.

May 2011 Show;

Program: Voices of the Middle East
Program date: Fri, 05/13/2011
This is recording of an interview with Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel about their new book: "The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future." Second part of the show is a reflection by Barry Amundson the survived brother of a 9-11 victim on killing of Usama Bin Laden.
Please Click here to listen to this program on-demand!

Arab rebellion continues and while West picks and chooses what to support and what not, people in both sides are following the dreams for a democratic future in the region. <--break->Some argue that Green movement in Iran after the elections of 2009 ignited the post modern indigenous uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and now Syria. My guests are of the believe that new generation of the Middle Eastern are fed-up with autocracy and are in pursuit of a anti-colonial, yet modernized system of governance across the region.

Nader Hashemi teaches Middle East politics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and he is the co-author with Danny Postel of "The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future." Danny Postel is the author of “Reading Legitimation Crisis in Tehran: Iran and the Future of Liberalism (Paradigm)”.

This month, US was able to attack and Kill al-qaeda leader Usama Bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abotabad. The incident ended a self proclaimed decade of war against terror as was defined by US administrations since 2001, while President Obama now can claim the victory on behalf of victims. I have interviewed Barry Amundson a local member of the progressive community whose brother was killed during the 9-11 attack on Pentagon in Washington DC. Barry talks about his personal view of the killing of UBL and his right as survived brother of a victim of the crime the terrorists of 9-11 committed.

April 2011 Show;

program: Voices of the Middle East
program date: Fri, 04/08/2011
This is recording of an interview with Nadia Abraibesh and Pepe Escobar about the situations in Libya and the rest of the Middle East and North Africa.

Please click here to listen to this program!

Nadia Abraibesh traveled to her father’s homeland after graduation from Linfield College to meet her Libyan family, and found herself in the middle of the uprising. She joined anti-government rallies and documented protests and atrocities with photos and interviews. Two weeks ago, Nadia and a male relative departed Benghazi for the 17-hour trip to the Cairo airport, and she is now safe at home in Portland.

Pepe Escobar (born 1954) is a journalist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He writes a column entitled The Roving Eye for Asia Times Online and is analyst and correspondent for The Real News Network.

An extreme traveler, Pepe's nose for news has taken him to all parts of the globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination (Masoud: From warrior to statesman , Sep 11, 2001). Two weeks before September 11, 2001, while Pepe was in the tribal areas of Pakistan, ATol published his prophetic piece, Get Osama! Now! Or else ... (Aug 30, 2001). Pepe was one of the first journalists to reach Kabul after the Taliban's retreat, and more recently he has explored and reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China.

To follow Pepe's articles on the Great Arab Revolt, please click here.

March 2011 Show;

Program date: Fri, 03/11/2011
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Popular uprising in the Middle East and North Africa has expanded to Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, but unlike Tunisia and Egypt, people in these countries have faced fierce resistance from the government supporters. While West is considering military interventions or some sort of press for no fly zone over the Libya, US is asking Yemenis people to accept Ali Abdullah Saleh's reform initiatives and calm down the unrests.

I interviewed Professor Ali Ahmida on situations in Libya. Ali Ahmida is a professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of New England, Biddeford, Maine. His specialty is political theory, comparative politics and historical sociology of power, agency and anti-colonial resistance in North Africa, especially modern Libya. He is the author of The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization and Resistance (1994) in addition to numerous articles. He is editor of Beyond Colonialism and Nationalism in the Maghrib: History, Culture and Politics (2000).

February 2011 Show;

Egyptian Revolution Unfold

Friday February 11, 2011
9-10 AM on KBOO 90.7 FM

Click here to listen to this broadcast!

Current events in the Middle East and North Africa have captured world attentions. Ben Ali and Husni Mubarak, the US's allies of 20-30 years in Tunisia and Egypt are under pressure to leave or have already submitted to the will of the people. What happens there has impact on other countries of the region. Please join me in talking with 3 scholars of the field: Dr. Sherifa Zuhur, Mike Ghouse and Dr. Peter Bechtold in discussing these issues live on KBOO.

Sherifa Zuhur Masoud Ph.D.:
Dr. Zuhur is the Executive Director of the Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies, and Associate Editor for Contemporary Conflicts and International Systems, Review of Middle East Studies and the Assistant Editor, Encyclopedia of U.S. Middle East Wars. ABC-Clio. She has two Ph.D. in History and Political Science from UCLA.

Mike Ghouse:
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. www.MikeGhouse.net

Peter Bechtold, Ph.D.:
A native of Heidelberg, Germany, Bechtold came to Oregon as a teenager to visit two uncles. He liked the area, so when fall 1956 rolled around, he entered Portland State College. At PSU, Bechtold earned a bachelor's in math and a minor in Middle East studies, before going to Princeton on a full fellowship. There he received two Ph.D.s, one in Near East studies and one in political science. to study culture, customs, religion, politics, and other issues before being dispatched abroad. For almost 30 years, Peter Bechtold '61 taught at the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C. Last year he returned to Portland State as director of the Middle East Studies Center, where he served for one year.

January 2011 Show;

Program date: Fri, 01/14/2011 Click here to listen to this broadcast!
The Palestine Fair Trade Association and Canaan Fair Trade are both a superb form of resistance to Israeli occupation. Farming their own land and the connections with the outside world are empowering our fair trade farmers and gives them hope. I interviewed Dr. Nasser Abufarha about his Fair Trade initiative in Palestinian territories.