November 2012 Show;

Host Goudarz Eghtedari speaks with Mike Ghouse, a Muslim advocate living in Texas, about the elections and Obama's plan in the next cycle.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, politics, foreign policy, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. He is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity's show on Fox TV and a commentator on national radio. He writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and bi-monthly at Huffington Post and several periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Click here to listen to this broadcast!

September 2012 Show!

Host Goudarz Eghtedari speaks with journalist and blogger Richard Silverstein about the current Israeli administration's push for another American war in the Middle East. Silverstein's recent story on an Israeli plot caught international attention via BBC's News Hour.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19271083

Click here to listen to this broadcast!

July 2012 Show;

July 13, 2012
90.7 FM
KBOO.fm

To listen to this program please click here! 

As president Morsi calls the peoples assembly to start its role in legislation until the new constitution draft is put to vote, the constitutional court and Council of the Army insist that the assembly is null and can not resume.  An interview with Professor Mohammed Aman, University of Wisconsin, and Professor Nader Hashemi, University of Denver, with regards to recent presidential elections and current struggle between the popular revolution and the military establishment that claims the control of the country.

Mohammed Aman is Professor of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin –Milwaukee (UWM) and Editor–in-Chief of the refereed journal Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) since its inception in 1990. His research and subject expertise center around education in the Arab world; information and national development; intellectual freedom and censorship in the Arab world, e-governance and democracy. Prof. Aman received his BA from Cairo University, MS from Columbia University and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, and did post doctoral work at NYU.

Nader Hashemi is Assistant Professor at Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver (2008-present); He is the author of Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies (Oxford University Press, 2009) and co-editor of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future (Melville House, 2011). 

For previous shows please go to www.voicesofthemiddleeast.com

June 2012 Show;

Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote ControlHow to Lobby our way out of war with Iran

June 8, 2012 at 9 AM

Click here to listen to this program!

on KBOO 90.7 FM

Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange.  She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years. Described as "one of America’s most committed -- and most effective -- fighters for human rights" by New York Newsday, and called "one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement" by the Los Angeles Times, Medea has distinguished herself as an eloquent and energetic figure in the progressive movement. In 2005 she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide. In 2010 she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Since the September 11, 2001 tragedy,  Medea has been working to promote a U.S. foreign policy that would respect human rights and gain us allies instead of contributing to violence and undermining our international reputation.  In 2000, she was a Green Party candidate for the California Senate.  During the 1990s, Medea focused her efforts on tackling the problem of unfair trade as promoted by the World Trade Organization. Widely credited as the woman who brought Nike to its knees and helped place the issue of sweatshops on the national agenda, Medea was a key player in the campaign that won a $20 million settlement from 27 US clothing retailers for the use of sweatshop labor in Saipan. She also pushed Starbucks and other companies to start carrying fair trade coffee.

Her work for justice in Israel/Palestine includes taking numerous delegations to Gaza after the 2008 Israeli invasion, organizing the Gaza Freedom March in 2010, participating in the Freedom Flotillas and opposing the policies of the Israel lobby group AIPAC. In 2011 she was in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian uprising and In 2012 she was part of a human rights delegation to Bahrain in support of democracy activists; she was tear-gassed, arrested and deported by the Bahraini government. 

A former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, Benjamin is the author/editor of eight books. Her latest book is called Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, and she has been campaigning to get lethal drones out of the hands of the CIA. Her articles appear regularly in outlets such as The Huffington Post, CommonDreams, Alternet and OpEd News. Medea can be reached at:medea[@]codepink.org.

Kate Gould is the Legislative Associate for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker lobby in the public interest fielding the largest registered team of peace lobbyists in Washington, D.C.  Kate is one of only a handful of registered lobbyists working to prevent war with Iran, and she also lobbies on Israel/Palestine peace.  She is originally from Oregon and has lived and worked in the Middle East.  Kate is a board member of Churches for Middle East Peace, and is a contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus and other media outlets. 

May 2012 Show;

Muslim Immigrants in Europe, subjects of discrimination, isolations and scape goating by right wing politics.

May 11, 2012 at 9 AM

Click here to listen to this program!

KBOO 90.7 FM

Tugrul Keskin is Assistant Professor of International and Middle Eastern Studies and Center For Turkish Studies at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests include Sociology of Islam and the Middle East, Social and Political Theories, Marxism, Post-Colonial Theory, Islamic Movements, Sociology of Africa (Imperialism and Re-colonization in Africa after 1950s), Modern Kurdish, Uyghur and Turkish Nationalism. Previously, Dr. Keskin taught as an instructor of Sociology and Africana Studies at Virginia Tech University and has also previously taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at James Madison and Radford Universities. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech in Sociology, with certificate degrees in Africana Studies, Social and Political Thought, and International Research and Development. The topic of his Ph.D. dissertation is A Comparative Analysis of Islamist Movements: Jama’at-e-Islami in Pakistan and the Fethullah Gulen Movement in Turkey – Reactions to Capitalism, Modernity and Secularism.

At the end I'll also interview Dr. Muhammad Sahimi on P5+1 and Iranian negotiations scheduled to start shortly in Baghdad and to promote his upcoming lecture in Portland.

April 2012 Show;

The Iranian Nuclear program and IAEA.

Aired on April 13, 2012 at 9 AM
Click here to listen to this program

KBOO 90.7 fm 

Muhammad Sahimi is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and holds the NIOC Chair in petroleum engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Sahimi received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tehran and after briefly working for the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), he received a scholarship from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and travelled to the USA, where he has since remained, completing his PhD at the University of Minnesota in 1984.  Since 2003, Dr. Sahimi has frequently written on the subject of Iranian politics, particularly the Iranian nuclear program. His writings have been published in Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, the Harvard International Review, and The Progressive.

March 2012 Show;

Voices of the Middle East presents:
Friday March 9, 2012 at 9 AM
KBOO 90.7 fm or webcast at www.kboo.fm

Click here to listen to this program!



Have the diplomatic efforts of the Obama administration toward Iran failed? Was the Bush administration's emphasis on military intervention, refusal to negotiate, and pursuit of regime change a better approach? How can the United States best address the ongoing turmoil in Tehran? This book provides a definitive and comprehensive analysis of the Obama administration's early diplomatic outreach to Iran and discusses the best way to move toward more positive relations between the two discordant states.
Trita Parsi, a Middle East foreign policy expert with extensive Capitol Hill and United Nations experience, interviewed 70 high-ranking officials from the U.S., Iran, Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Brazil—including the top American and Iranian negotiators—for this book. Parsi uncovers the previously unknown story of American and Iranian negotiations during Obama's early years as president, the calculations behind the two nations' dealings, and the real reasons for their current stalemate. Contrary to prevailing opinion, Parsi contends that diplomacy has not been fully tried. For various reasons, Obama's diplomacy ended up being a single roll of the dice. It had to work either immediately—or not at all. Persistence and perseverance are keys to any negotiation. Neither Iran nor the U.S. had them in 2009.

“With the eye of a Washington insider, Trita Parsi assembles all the pieces of this complex puzzle in an original and persuasive way. I am aware of no one who has subjected the Obama administration’s policy on Iran to this kind of sustained scrutiny. Parsi displays a nuanced understanding of the historical context and an exceptionally fine-tuned appreciation for the political conditions and vulnerabilities of both Iran and the United States.”—Gary Sick, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs

I interviewed Dr. Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council about President Obama's Iran Policy and AIPAC conference this week.  

Second part of the VOME is an interview with Tina Foster the attorney with Child Foundation, a charity organization registered in Portland that was under investigation by US Government for money transfer to Iran, this case was closed this week with most of the accusation being rejected by US Judge overseeing the court.  The founder of Child Foundation, Dr. Mehrdad Yasrebi was sentenced to one year probation and moving restrictions from home.

January 2012 Show;

Stalemate in Obama's Iran Policy

 January, 13, 2012
Click here to listen to this program!

KBOO 90,7 FM

A live interview with Professor William Beeman, University of Minnesota, and Reza Marashi, Policy Director with National Iranian American Council on issues related to sanctions and threats of war with Iran.  Panel also reviewed President Obama's change of policy on Iran from negotiations to pressure and hostile track.

Reza Marashi joined NIAC in 2010 as the organization’s first Research Director.  He came to NIAC after four years in the Office of Iranian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  Prior to his tenure at the State Department, he was an analyst at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) covering China-Middle East issues, and a Tehran-based private strategic consultant on Iranian political and economic risk. Marashi is frequently consulted by Western governments on Iran-related matters.  His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, The National Interest and Al Jazeera, among other publications. He has been a guest contributor to the BBC, NPR, Financial Times, Reuters, and ABC News, among other broadcast outlets.  Follow Reza on Twitter: @rezamarashi

Professor Beeman is an internationally known expert on the Middle East and the Islamic World, particularly Iran, the Gulf Region and Central Asia. He has also conducted research in Japan, India, Nepal, China and Europe. From 1996-1999 he sang professionally in Europe as an operatic bass. He continues his musical career.  His scholarly interests and research include sociolinguistics and the semantics of interaction; cross-cultural comparison of theatrical and performance genres; opera; paralinguistic and nonlinguistic semiotics; action anthropology; philosophic anthropology; peasant and nomadic societies. 

www.voicesofthemiddleeast.com

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; 


To listen to this recording please click here!

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

Click here to listen to this program on-demand!


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
Click here to listen to this broadcast!
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.

December 2010 Show

Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Iran
December 10, 2010
For podcast of this interview please Click here!

The situation of human rights in Iran is of concern, because the West is so pre-occupied with the nuclear issue that the question is never raised in the context of the negotiations and/or the confrontation with the Islamic Republic. Two of the groups that face gross discriminations by the government, as well as the society, are religious and sexual minorities. These groups do not threaten the governmental establishment in a po...litical way, but still are subjected to mostly silent violations of the Human Rights. Followers of Baha'i and Jewish faiths are accused of spying for Israel and their loyalty is questioned. Their education and chances for participation in regular life are extremely minimal and in many cases they are denied equal opportunities. The GLBT communities on the other hand are treated as outcasts, both by the society and by the government.

I talked with representatives from both groups in my show 'Voices of the Middle East.' Two members of the Portland Baha'i community will speak about the situation of their community in Iran and the persecution by the government. Later we will hear from a Gay refugee in Portland about Gays in Iran, their involuntary migration to Turkey and finally their resettlement in Portland.

Jacqueline Left Hand Bull (Delahunt) lives in Portland and is the Administrative Officer of an organization that serves 43 native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest with health issues including research, policy, service delivery, and capacity building. She is also the Chairperson of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States – the elected nine-person body that governs the affairs of the American Bahá’í community in the 48 contiguous states.

Merat Bagha lives in Portland and is the President of Tiba Medical, a small medical device company. Born and raised in Iran, he is a longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest having completed his undergraduate studies at Oregon State University and graduate studies at the University of Washington. In 1981, his mother, Mrs Shidrukh Amirkia Bagha, was arrested in post-revolutionary Iran for hosting a Bahá’í gathering. After a 3 month incarceration in the notorious Evin Prison, she was summarily executed along with 7 members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tehran.

Arash is a pseudo name for an Iranian Gay refugee who has lived in Portland for the past 14 months. He has spent 2 years in Turkey before being accepted by US. There are hundreds of sexual minority members among thousands of the Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey waiting for their cases to be processed by UN and western countries. Arash like other refugees who arrived in the past few years is still looking for a descent job and to realize the dream that youth from Iran are hoping for in the USA. If you or anyone you know can offer him and his friends a good job please call the station or contact Goudarz via email at Goudarz@voicesofthemiddleeast.com.

Nov. 2010 Show

Goudarz Eghtedari interviews Reese Erlich the author of "Conversations With Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire" on Voices of the Middle East.

The second half of the show is an interview with Osamah Khalil about the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and Obama's attempt to deal with it.

For Podcast of this show click here!

Reese Erlich is a best-selling book author and freelance journalist who writes regularly for the Dallas Morning News, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Radio and National Public Radio. He has won numerous journalism awards and he was a segment producer on a radio series that won a Peabody award. Erlich was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1965 he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, and later became active in the anti-Vietnam War movement. In October 1967 Erlich and others organized Stop the Draft Week. They were arrested and became known as the "Oakland Seven." In their trial they were acquitted of all charges, being successfully represented by Charles Garry.

Osamah Khalil is co-director of Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network. He specializes in Palestinian politics and history, US foreign policy in the Middle East and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Khalil commented: “Israel's settlement policy perpetuates its occupation of the Palestinian territories and undermines American attempts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Without American largesse, Israel's occupation could not continue. The US can either broker a final peace accord or it can continue to subsidize settlements -- it cannot do both.”