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This week on Uprising —

* A sixteen year old Lebanese American escapes the Israeli assault
* Will Somalia go the way of Afghanistan?
* The late Murray Bookchin – his philosophy and legacy
* Radio BC’s Glen Ford on Cuba

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A sixteen year old Lebanese American escapes the Israeli assault

GUEST: Juliana Darwiche, 16 year old Lebanese American escapes Israeli Assault

On Thursday August 3rd, a barrage of missile attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel killed eight people. Hours later, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah offered a cessation of hostilities if Israel stopped airstrikes against Lebanon. Nasrallah has threatened to launch rockets into Tel Aviv if the Lebanese capital of Beirut is hit by Israel. In response, Israeli warplanes twice struck southern Beirut early morning on Friday August 4th. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had dropped leaflets on Thursday night warning residents in the area to leave. However, most bridges and roads leading out of Beirut have been bombed, leaving residents little choice. Israeli missiles also damaged a power plant that provides most of the electricity in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa valley. The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on intervention measures on Saturday.

To date, more than 900 Lebanese have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, and more than 3,000 injured. These are largely civilians, with one-third of casualties being children under the age of 12. Also, about a quarter of the Lebanese population has been displaced.

Juliana Darwiche is a 16 year old Lebanese American who was born and raised in the US and who visited her home country for the first time this July. She joins us in studio to describe her harrowing escape from Israeli bombardment.

Radio BC on Cuba

Glen Ford, Radio BC

Today’s commentary by Radio BC’s Glen Ford is about Cuba.

Will Somalia go the way of Afghanistan?

GUEST: Najum Mushtaq, journalist based in Nairobi

Hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers entered Somalia earlier in the week in a move designed to protect the Somali government, based in the provincial town of Baidoa. The protection is needed against expansion by Islamic fundamentalists, who took over the capital, Mogadishu and other southern towns after ousting U.S.-backed warlords from the capital in June. They have taken over parts of the country by setting up Islamic or Sharia courts and have expanded their influence into remote areas of the country. The Islamic Courts’ militia was initially thought of as being moderate. However, the hardline position of its leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys points towards a Taliban-like movement. Somalia’s interim government is the 14th attempt at central rule since the chaotic aftermath of the 1991 overthrow of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre. The government has since been powerless to stop the advance of the Islamists. It currently controls little territory outside of its base in Baidoa. Last month, 18 ministers and assistant ministers resigned and one cabinet member was fatally shot, further weakening the government.

Najum Mushtaq is a Nairobi based journalist. He warns that the Islamic courts in Somalia, and their militia, are a new frontier for Jihadi Islam, and that Somalia is going the way of Afghanistan.

Read Najum Mushtaq’s article in Foreign Policy in Focus.

Murray Bookchin’ s Legacy

GUEST: Brian Tokar, Faculty member at the Institute for Social Ecology

On Sunday July 30th, renowned radical social ecologist Murray Bookchin died of heart failure at the age of 85 at his home in Burlington, Vermont. Born in New York City in 1921 to Russian immigrants, Bookchin became active in leftist politics early on in his life. At the age of nine, he joined the Young Communist League. But by age 18, he was expelled from the organization for openly criticizing Stalin. Eventually disillusioned by what he perceived as authoritarian currents, Bookchin turned to libertarian socialism or anarchism. As an early pioneer of social ecology, he argued that only libertarianism on a municipal level and direct democracy could confront and resolve the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Towards the end of his life, Bookchin became critical of anarchism, eventually breaking with the philosophy, and envisioned a new paradigm of communalism. I spoke recently with Brian Tokar who authored a piece in memory of Murray Bookchin entitled, “The Last Utopian,” and is also the editor of “Gene Traders: Biotechnology, World Trade and the Globalization of Hunger.” He is a faculty member at the Institute for Social Ecology.

Read Brian Tokar’s tribute to Murray Bookchin here.

For more information, visit www.social-ecology.org

Books by Murray Bookchin:

– The Murray Bookchin Reader by Murray Bookchin, Janet Biehl

– The Philosophy of Social Ecology by Murray Bookchin

– The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy by Murray Bookchin

– Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin

– The Third Revolution: Popular Movements in the Revolutionary Era by Murray Bookchin

– Remaking Society: Pathways to a Green Future

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“We must recover the utopian impulses, the hopefulness, the appreciation of what is good, what is worth rescuing in human civilization, as well as what must be rejected, if the ecology movement is to play a transformative and creative role in human affairs.” — Murray Bookchin