Month: May 2022

Briefings

Background Briefing: May 2, 2022

On By gram

 

Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov’s Ignorant Racism Infuriates Israel

We begin with the shockingly anti-Semitic and racist remarks coming from Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov which have disgusted and infuriated Israel’s leaders who have largely been sitting on the fence unwilling to criticize Russia for its brutal invasion of Ukraine much to the fury of Ukraine’s Jewish leader Volodymyr Zelenski. Joining us from Israel is Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist and columnist for Ha’aretz and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He is the former spokesman for Shimon Peres and writes the weekly Twilight Zone feature which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 30 years. His latest book is The Punishment of Gaza and we discuss the change underway in Israel against Russia and in favor of Ukraine in response to Lavrov’s remarks that “Hitler had Jewish blood …and the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”

 

The Murdoch Family Are Fully Onboard Tucker Carlson’s Racist Propaganda

Then we get an analysis of the front page series in Sunday’s New York Times, “AMERICAN NATIONALIST: PART 1. How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable” from Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters for America, a non-profit described by Bill O’Reilly as “the most dangerous organization in America.”  A recognized authority on right wing extremism, Angelo was profiled by The Guardian as a leader of the grassroots resistance activism in the age of Donald Trump and we discuss how wrong speculation is that the Murdoch’s might be distancing themselves from Trump. Now it is apparent from Tucker Carlson’s close relationship with Lachlan Murdoch that the owners of Fox are fully onboard spreading racist propaganda to mobilize the ranks of the far-right in this country to vote and steal the next elections.

 

National Security and Environmental Concerns Over Dependence on Russia Could be a Win-Win

Then finally we speak with Jeffrey Frankel, a professor at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government who served as a member of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers where his responsibilities included international economics, macroeconomics, and the environment. We discuss his article at The Guardian, “The west can cut its energy dependence on Russia and be greener” and how national security concerns and environmental concerns over dependence on Russian energy are not mutually exclusive and alternatives could be a win-win.