Opinion

Israel is aggressively implementing plans to shape Palestine's future and the broader region, sculpting its vision for the 'day after' its genocide in Gaza.

 The latest, bizarre iteration of this strategy proposes fragmenting the occupied West Bank into so-called 'emirates,' starting with the 'emirate of Hebron.'

 This unexpected twist in Israel's protracted search for alternative Palestinian leadership first surfaced in the staunchly pro-Israeli US newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. It then quickly dominated all Israeli media.

 The report details a letter from a person identified by the WSJ as "the leader of Hebron's most influential clan." Addressed to Nir Barakat, Jerusalem's former Israeli mayor, the letter from Sheikh Wadee' al-Jaabari appeals for "cooperation with Israel" in the name of "co-existence."

We open GREEP Zoom #230 with another wonderful poem from our Poet Laureate MIMI GERMAN.

Waldport, Oregon Mayor HEIDE LAMPERT then fills us in with the latest on the fascist assault on democracy itself.

Monumental, we honor the legendary DR. BOB FITRAKIS, who broke the ORIGINAL stories about Jeffrey Epstein.

In his presence, we take a deep dive into the miasma that is the Epstein hurricane.

Radio hero LYNN FEINERMAN explores some of the conspiratorial aspects of Epstein’s alleged Mossad contacts.

KPFK board member MYLA RESON connects Epstein with former Governor Bill Richardson….and worse.

Questions about MAGA’s mysterious revulsion to the Epstein nightmare are raised by DONALD SMITH.

Likewise co-convenor MIKE HERSH wonders about why Trump’s ties to Epstein are coming to anyone as a “surprise."

Longtime GREEP supporter John Steiner asks "how we can get more of this investigation out where it needs to go?”

Indeed, how does this Epstein affair turn into Trump’s downfall asks MURTAZA MOGRI.

“At the end of the day they’re all fascists,” adds ALEX WILLIAMS. “At the end of the day they’ll find someone else.”

Let’s call it the human guessing game. There comes a point in life when we find ourselves playing it whether we want to or not. Hallelujah for a sense of humor. It gives (temporary) relief from the unrelenting unknown . . . of dying.

Yeah, I said it, not abstractly or politically, but personally. It’s not simply that “people” are going to die, or “you” are going to die. I’m going to die. I don’t know when. I’m full of determination, just shy of age 79, to stay alive and functional, but doing so ain’t what it used to be. Ouch. Simply standing up now takes the sort of effort I once exerted walking a mile. Our Hero (as I call myself) is functionally ebbing.

Change is coming! The basic term for this change is “death.” – certainly one of the most avoided words in the language, at least when the discussion is personal. Some people fortify their reaction to that word by embracing a certainty – religious or secular – about what happens next. Others, myself included, essentially embrace “wait and see,” but nonetheless grasp for fragments of possibility that occasionally spurt out of the unknown.

For months now, as part of its effort to justify and rally support for deportation, the Trump administration has cleverly referred to all undocumented immigrants as “criminals.” That strategy is as grossly inaccurate as it is brutally manipulative. Consider the facts behind this confusing mess.

Entering the U.S. by unlawful means, crossing the border without inspection at a legal point of entry, is indeed a crime. But it is a misdemeanor (8 U.S.C. § 1325). Reentry after deportation, crossing the border without inspection a second time, however, does rise to a felony (8 U.S.C. § 1326). 

By contrast, overstaying the expiration on one’s visa (entering the country legally with inspection but remaining beyond the term of the visa) is a civil—not criminal—offense.  According to the Center For Migration Studies, these people make up over 40 percent of the undocumented population in the United States. They are not criminals. They have not committed either a misdemeanor or a felony.

The term "Intifada" does not mean the destruction of Israel. Such claim is false, misleading, and unfair to the Palestinian struggle. "Intifada" originates from Arabic, meaning "uprising" or "shaking off." Intifada refers to the Palestinian uprisings against Israel's brutal military occupation and settlement construction on stolen/confiscated Palestinian land by nonviolent means or by armed resistance.

International law recognizes the right of Palestinians to resist their occupation by all available means including armed resistance. This right is based on the principle of self-determination for ALL people under foreign and colonial rule. The UN General Assembly has explicitly affirmed this right, including armed struggle.

To make it easy to understand, all what the Palestinians want is to be free and independent, no more, no less. Just like how Americans fought for their freedom and independence in 1776, so why attack and smear Palestinians when they aspire for the very same freedom?

In a city that paved over its history, Z.F. Taylor is putting it back on stage.

The idea for the Legacy Series didn’t start in a theater. It began with a conversation with local business owner Todd Wilson, who spoke of the King-Lincoln Bronzeville District as a place rich in history. He told Z.F. Taylor there were stories in the community that needed to be told, stories that could “really impact the present generation and the generations to come.”

For Taylor (pictured above), a playwright since the age of 12 and a man who admits he hasn’t had a real vacation in over 20 years, that idea became a mission. The Legacy Series, he says, was born from “the need to tell stories from days gone by so that people can get lessons to help them be better for days to come”.