Unofficial Channels: Dialogue for Middle East Peace
Unofficial Channels: Dialogue for Middle East Peace Here’s a show from our archives 1998 –still apt today. Displaced from their land after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian people have been struggling for autonomy. Some are calling for an independent state. Disputes over land and resource allocations, and periodic flare-ups of violence, however, have complicated negotiations involving Palestinians and Israelis....
Korea: The Ghosts of the Gwangju Uprising (ENCORE)
On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea came together for reunification and an end to an era of martial law imposed by U.S.-backed military dictators. Over the course of ten days, they staged mass protests, battled riot police and soldiers, and were met with brutal repression. Together, they successfully drove the military out Gwangju and governed the city together. Their actions changed the course of Korean history. On...
Daze of Justice
Via our adaptation of Michael Siv’s documentary, we hear the intimate story of trailblazing Cambodian-American women who break decades of silence, abandoning the security of their American homes on a journey back into Cambodia’s killing fields, only this time not as victims but as witnesses determined to resurrect the memory of their loved ones before the UN Special Tribunal prosecuting the Khmer Rouge. Only Daze of...
The Nakba, the Naksa, and the Future of Palestine
In 1948 Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their villages and towns. The event, and the ongoing destruction and occupation of Palestine are referred to as the Nakba, “The Catastrophe.” How did the events of 1948 shape Palestine and its diaspora? And now, 70 years later, how are Palestinians fighting to return home? As news spreads of recent violence against Palestinian demonstrators calling for their right to...
The Spirit of Vietnam Is Stronger Than U.S. Bombs
Fifty years ago, the American War in Vietnam was at its height. There, people had fought against Japanese and French colonial rule, and now, the U.S. attempt at domination was once again, turning family members, friends, and neighbors against each other. For the U.S. government, this was just another Cold War battleground, and deaths of 2.1 – 3.8 million Vietnamese people were seen as collateral damage to establishing U.S. rule...
Ghosts of the Korean War: Stop THAAD (Encore)
On this encore addition of Making Contact, we head to Soseongri, a small village nestled in the mountains of Seongju County. There, grandmas and grandpas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s have gone from quietly farming to organizing daily protests and blockades to stop THAAD. THAAD is part of a missile defense system that gives the U.S. the ability to carry out a nuclear first strike. The region has historically been Korea’s...
