Background Briefing: October 31, 2023
More Civilian Deaths in Gaza as Israel’s Ground Campaign Intensifies
We begin with more civilian deaths in Gaza as Israeli ground forces move into the north and destroy tunnels in a campaign that may be over much sooner than the months that Netanyahu recently announced. Joining us to discuss the war’s impact on domestic politics is M.J. Rosenberg, who worked on Capitol Hill for various Democratic members of the House and Senate for 20 years. Previously, he served as the Director of Policy Analysis for the Israel Policy Forum and was an editor of Near East Report, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC’s) biweekly publication on Middle East Policy. He currently blogs at mjx847.substack.com where his latest posts include “For Dems, The Politics of Gaza Are Awful” and “AIPAC Goes To Town.”
Both Trump and Mike Johnson Were Backed by the Council For National Policy Founded by Right-Wing Fundamentalists and Oil Barons
Then we examine the role of the Council for National Policy, founded by right-wing fundamentalists and oil barons, which was key to electing Trump and has backed Mike Johnson, the new House Speaker, with fossil fuel money. Joining us is Anne Nelson, an author and lecturer in the fields of international affairs, media and human rights. As a journalist she covered the conflicts in El Salvador and Guatemala, and won the Livingston Award for best international reporting from the Philippines. She served as the director of the Committee to Protect Journalists and was the director of the international program at the Columbia School of Journalism where she created the first curriculum in human rights reporting. Her books include Red Orchestra: The Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler and Suzanne’s Children: A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris. Her latest book is Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, now out in an updated paperback version, and we discuss her article at The Washington Spectator, “How Christian Nationalists, Big Oil and the Big Lie Seized the Speaker’s Gavel.”