Detecting language using up to the first 30 seconds. Use `--language` to specify the language Detected language: English [00:00.000 --> 00:04.880] of the Spanish Civil War, opposed to war during the period of the Hitler-Stalin [00:04.880 --> 00:10.080] pact, and the anti-war sentiment grew in strength as the Cold War seemed to present [00:10.080 --> 00:16.160] the situation of an unending series of conflicts. Later on, when the U.S. got involved [00:16.160 --> 00:21.360] in the Vietnam War, opposition movements began slowly on various U.S. college campuses. [00:21.360 --> 00:27.520] These campaigns grew into very large demonstrations from 1967 until 1971. [00:27.520 --> 00:34.160] Moving forward to the 2001 Afghanistan War, there was initially little opposition in the United [00:34.160 --> 00:39.600] States and the United Kingdom. Most vocal opposition came from pacifist groups and groups [00:39.600 --> 00:45.040] promoting a leftist political agenda. In the United States, for example, the group answer was [00:45.040 --> 00:50.880] one of the most visible organizers of anti-war protests. Opposition to the Afghan War [00:50.880 --> 00:55.680] grew more widespread, partly as a result of weariness, with the length of the conflict, [00:55.680 --> 01:00.720] and partly because it conflated with the Iraq War, and therefore renewing support of anti-war [01:00.720 --> 01:05.520] movements. Millions of people staged mass protests across the world in the immediate [01:05.520 --> 01:11.600] pollute to the invasion, and demonstrations and other forms of anti-war activism have continued throughout [01:11.600 --> 01:18.560] the occupation. The anti-war movement continues today with talks of possible war against Iran, [01:18.560 --> 01:24.160] the U.S. drone attacks on Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the military intervention in Libya, [01:24.160 --> 01:29.600] and the possible intervention in Syria. How effective is the anti-war movement today, [01:29.600 --> 01:34.640] and to what extent is anti-war activism helping in pressuring governments out of wars? [01:40.640 --> 01:44.480] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Asad, thank you very much for joining us on the show. [01:44.480 --> 01:51.040] Thank you for receiving me. Thank you. Asad, in a region that has been going on through [01:51.040 --> 01:56.560] different turmoil throughout the history, how important do you think an anti-war movement [01:56.560 --> 02:03.200] is in the Middle East, where you are based? Well, I think it would be important not only in [02:03.200 --> 02:12.000] the Middle East, but anywhere where there are troubles. Whether the troubles are between governments [02:12.000 --> 02:17.760] or between the same population and the same country. In this case, you mean civil war? [02:17.760 --> 02:25.440] Yes, it could be civil war in that case. And how important it is to promote peace among people, [02:25.440 --> 02:29.840] so we can, like, how can we prevent civil wars in general? Since we're talking about civil war, [02:29.840 --> 02:35.040] and you're an activist when it comes to civil war as well. How can we prevent that? [02:35.040 --> 02:43.840] Yes, this is a good question, and I think that one should start with dealing with the [02:43.840 --> 02:52.720] injuries of the past of history, because you would be really surprised if you knew how much [02:52.720 --> 03:06.080] we are carrying in our memory and in our history, things that might push us to make war later [03:06.080 --> 03:12.880] on further on in our country's history. This is one. The second thing would be [03:12.880 --> 03:26.720] to pacify people, and to put a kind of immunity among them, and try to redeem, not to redeem, [03:26.720 --> 03:36.320] I mean to cover the divide that separates different components of this population or [03:36.320 --> 03:42.560] because they create gaps, and then you need to reconnect people together after a war. [03:43.760 --> 03:51.280] Yes, reconnecting comes, can come, even during the war, I mean, a shyly, of course, [03:51.280 --> 03:57.360] but it should start somewhere, I mean, but of course it would increase and become serious, [03:57.360 --> 04:04.800] and it will build for better future. Okay, now we'll talk about your activism and the work you do [04:04.800 --> 04:09.680] later on, but let me ask you this question, how can we have, like, from my understanding, [04:09.680 --> 04:16.560] there is no anti-war movement right now in the Middle East in general, but how can an anti-war [04:16.560 --> 04:20.480] movement in the Middle East affect the whole world, affect the whole region, maybe? [04:20.480 --> 04:28.480] Now let's agree on something. When you say anti-war movement, we mean by it, something that [04:28.480 --> 04:35.760] starts from within, not something that we import from another country or another group or another [04:35.760 --> 04:40.800] organization. I imagine that, no? Of course, of course. Yes, but what is the formula that is [04:40.800 --> 04:50.480] acceptable in the Middle East? Well, I think that the, once you start speaking of anti-war, [04:50.480 --> 05:03.200] you should speak also of anti-injustice and anti-aggression and anti-hatred and so on. [05:03.840 --> 05:08.960] All right, all right. Now when it comes to, when it comes to your work, Mr. Assad, [05:09.920 --> 05:15.680] can you tell us more about your work and what organizations, your part of and what is the kind of work [05:15.680 --> 05:24.400] Yes, I'll tell you, I'm a part of an organization called initiatives of change abroad, I mean, [05:24.400 --> 05:34.160] but in the Arab world, we kept the old name moral rearmament. In fact, it started as if you like [05:35.120 --> 05:43.920] a call to governments before the Second World War in Europe to start buying weapons and [05:43.920 --> 05:54.240] prepare themselves to a military war and to rearm themselves instead morally and later on, [05:54.240 --> 06:02.720] it became initiatives of change abroad, I mean. So I am part of this movement that changed me, [06:02.720 --> 06:09.120] because I took part in the Civil War in Lebanon. I was a fighter, with the Christians, [06:09.120 --> 06:18.640] I was an officer, let's say, in intelligence services and at a certain level, I came to me [06:18.640 --> 06:23.680] these guys and they told me, listen, are you, you want to change Lebanon and the Middle East? [06:23.680 --> 06:29.440] Are you ready to change yourself? Yes. And it was a shock. That's why you said change starts from within. [06:29.440 --> 06:35.040] Yes, yes. Now I'll ask you to stay with me for a minute, Mr. Assad, because I'll go now to my [06:35.040 --> 06:39.920] guest via Skype, Mr. Chris. Mr. Chris, welcome and thank you for being on the show. [06:41.200 --> 06:45.200] Thanks very much. Thank you. Mr. Chris, can you first of all give us a general idea, [06:45.200 --> 06:49.840] general overview of the anti-war movement taking place in Britain right now? [06:51.200 --> 06:56.000] Well, I've been asked 12 years since the beginning of the war on terror. There's been a very, [06:56.000 --> 07:01.760] very big movement in Britain protesting, first of all, over the Afghan war, the Occupational [07:01.760 --> 07:07.280] Afghanistan, then of course, massive demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq, [07:08.240 --> 07:15.040] which have continued, which continued right through till 2006. And then there's been big protests [07:15.040 --> 07:26.160] over there, Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2007, more big demonstrations against the attacks on Gaza, [07:26.160 --> 07:32.080] and a continued state of activity to try and get the troops out of Afghanistan, [07:32.960 --> 07:41.600] and protest as well over the current, the government attempts to plans to arm the rebels in Syria [07:43.040 --> 07:48.080] into them in that way. We are protested over the war, the bombing of Libya. [07:48.080 --> 07:56.000] The movement isn't at the same scale as it was back in 2003, four, five. But it represents [07:56.000 --> 08:00.880] the opinion of the vast majority of people who are actually opposed these foreign wars, [08:00.880 --> 08:05.360] and that's very important because it does put some pressure. And it kind of inhibits [08:06.000 --> 08:11.200] politicians at least to a certain extent, stocks who are doing some of the more extreme things [08:11.200 --> 08:19.600] they might want to do. Now, Mr. Chris, why should people be more active as anti-war individuals, [08:19.600 --> 08:26.800] because can we talk about the effect war can have on a society in general, and how people should [08:26.800 --> 08:32.640] be more aware of these effects? Yeah, I mean, I think the main reason why people demonstrated [08:32.640 --> 08:37.920] and continue to protest and oppose the wars is because they know that they're completely [08:37.920 --> 08:47.200] counterproductive. They know that in Iraq, for example, up to a million people have been killed by [08:47.200 --> 08:53.920] the Western intervention, the infrastructure has been shot to pieces, obviously the problems [08:53.920 --> 09:00.080] that you know are all too well about the refugee crisis and the continuing damage that [09:00.080 --> 09:04.320] has been done by the wars. And I think the whole thing was based on a lie, [09:04.320 --> 09:09.760] that was the, and then there's a whole question of the damage that it's done to our own [09:09.760 --> 09:16.160] political system here, because as you say, we were taken to war on a series of lies, [09:16.160 --> 09:22.640] a Sikh secret deals, made between Tony Brown and George Bush openly lying to Parliament [09:22.640 --> 09:27.360] to the people, to the Katerner, and there's a kind of democratic deficit, there's a kind of [09:28.720 --> 09:34.240] degrading of the democratic system in Britain, which is directly linked to that whole experience [09:34.240 --> 09:38.480] of those wars. So, you know, it's been very bad, it's very bad to civil liberties as well. [09:38.480 --> 09:43.840] I mean, as we've all seen the kind of things that the NSA has been up to in America in the last [09:44.880 --> 09:50.800] three or four years or more, but also GCHQ in Britain is very, very centrally involved in that as [09:50.800 --> 09:55.680] well. So civil liberties have been massively under attack. Those have been even increasing racism [09:55.680 --> 10:02.080] in British society against Muslims to direct product of the war on terror. So, you know, [10:02.080 --> 10:08.000] there's lots of reasons, lots of very, very good reasons to begin to these wars. And that's [10:08.000 --> 10:12.720] before you even mentioned the hundreds of British soldiers that have died, the thousands that have [10:12.720 --> 10:18.240] been wounded, the families that have been torn apart by that whole experience. It's been a disaster, [10:18.240 --> 10:22.400] the war on terror has been a complete catastrophe, and that's why the majority of people in Britain [10:22.400 --> 10:29.840] are against it. Mr. Chris, how is, stop the war coalition involved on ground in fighting [10:29.840 --> 10:34.800] war and promoting peace? Like, what activities is the coalition involved in? [10:36.080 --> 10:43.440] Well, we've got groups up in the country, we have public meetings and protests and a whole [10:43.440 --> 10:48.880] series of events throughout the year. Sometimes we come together in London for a big event like [10:48.880 --> 10:53.440] we had a conference early this year, which was an international peace conference where we had [10:53.440 --> 11:00.560] some people come up with the United States and elsewhere where we had a thousand people to discuss [11:00.560 --> 11:06.080] the situation of the war on terror and debate how best to counter it. We have, as you know, [11:06.080 --> 11:11.360] over the last ten or twelve years, we've had absolutely massive demonstrations for big demonstrations [11:11.360 --> 11:16.960] of any kind in British history, two million people demonstrated against the Iraq War. [11:16.960 --> 11:27.600] We have direct action, we have a kind of an information campaign via the web and publications [11:27.600 --> 11:33.600] exposing the lies and the arguments that the government puts forward to promote the war. [11:33.600 --> 11:38.080] We also have a campaign against Tony Blair, but as we believe that Tony Blair [11:38.080 --> 11:44.080] is essentially a war criminal, and that he should be brought to justice for what he's done to [11:44.080 --> 11:49.920] the Iraqi people and the fact that he's done it deceitfully and behind the backs of the [11:49.920 --> 11:55.680] of the population in Britain, behind the back of Parliament. So we've got a kind of ongoing campaign [11:55.680 --> 12:02.240] to bring him to justice, which is also very popular. So I mean, we just put the arguments against [12:02.240 --> 12:08.080] the war as high profile in societies, we possibly can, and as loud as we possibly can. [12:08.080 --> 12:14.400] And it has had some effect, because as I say, we're now in a position where 75% of the British people [12:14.400 --> 12:21.760] think these foreign interventions should cease, and then we should stop supporting U.S. foreign [12:21.760 --> 12:27.360] policy and participating in their wars. Great, that's a quite a lot of proposal. [12:27.360 --> 12:31.280] Mr Chris, I would ask you to stay with me for a minute, because we're going to take a short [12:31.280 --> 12:42.320] break, and we'll be right back, ladies and gentlemen, stay in tune. [13:31.600 --> 13:34.000] Women's rights, redefined. [13:43.680 --> 13:47.120] Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Early in all, we talked to our two guests, [13:47.120 --> 13:52.320] Mr. Assad and Mr. Chris, we talked about the work, stop the war coalition does, and also [13:52.320 --> 13:56.400] the organizations that Mr. Assad is involved in. Mr. Assad, you've said that you're involved [13:56.400 --> 14:01.200] in the first organization. Can you tell us more about the activities that you do regarding [14:01.200 --> 14:08.400] peace and call like reconciliation also promoting anti-war sentiment? [14:08.400 --> 14:15.200] Yeah, in fact, our main work is to speak about personal change, and that one should change [14:16.960 --> 14:25.040] to improve his family, society, his country, everything, according to some moral values. [14:25.040 --> 14:34.720] But we had the occasion, because I had changed, I mean, and because in the year 2000, I addressed [14:34.720 --> 14:42.160] a public letter of apology to the Lebanese population regarding what I had done during the [14:42.160 --> 14:48.800] civil war in Lebanon, in the name of Christianity and of Christ and of my country. [14:48.800 --> 14:56.960] So, we have the occasion, together with another ex-fighter, also, who was the Muslim side, [14:56.960 --> 15:04.720] we go and meet young people in schools, universities, clubs, etc. to talk about [15:05.600 --> 15:13.680] how hatred starts in the hearts, you know, and how you carry it, and how you slip into violence [15:13.680 --> 15:21.040] very easily, and what you are able to do during the war since unbelievable, and what is the best [15:21.040 --> 15:27.360] way to get out of this? So, basically, you just promote peace throughout workshops and maybe seminars [15:27.360 --> 15:32.880] and talks. Yes, okay. Okay, I want you to stay with me for a minute, because I go now, [15:32.880 --> 15:39.040] to our guest, to joining us via phone, Mr. Ryan Becker, Mr. Brian Becker, thank you for being on the show. [15:40.080 --> 15:43.360] Thank you for having us. Thank you. Mr. Brian, can you give us a general [15:43.360 --> 15:48.960] overview of the work of the answer coalition and the role you play on ground in pressuring the [15:48.960 --> 15:55.680] US government out of force or trying to pressure the US government? Certainly, the answer coalition [15:55.680 --> 16:02.080] has been in existence since September 14th, 2001. We've formed just three days after this [16:02.080 --> 16:07.760] September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in Pentagon. We were concerned that the [16:07.760 --> 16:14.480] Bush administration at that time would take advantage of that horrible attack in order to carry out [16:16.080 --> 16:23.040] a cynical shift in US foreign policy specifically in interventionist foreign policy, [16:23.040 --> 16:28.720] and we saw that manifest itself quickly with the invasion of Afghanistan and then in March [16:28.720 --> 16:34.800] 19th, 2003, the invasion of Iraq. During that time period, the answer coalition organized [16:34.800 --> 16:42.080] literally hundreds of thousands of people, almost every month, starting in October 2002, [16:42.080 --> 16:48.320] until after the invasion of Iraq, generating an anti-war movement that began in the United [16:48.320 --> 16:54.800] States, but then became a worldwide movement. Since then, we have continued to oppose US foreign [16:54.800 --> 17:00.960] policy, which we consider to be aggressive in imperial and its designs and its objectives, [17:00.960 --> 17:06.560] we've continued to oppose the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan. We oppose and organized [17:06.560 --> 17:13.520] large-scale activities in the United States against the bombing of Libya in 2011. And just recently, [17:13.520 --> 17:20.800] we've been organizing events, rallies, demonstrations against the use of drone warfare that's [17:20.800 --> 17:26.960] targeted assassinations against people in other lands, drone technology that's quickly migrating [17:26.960 --> 17:32.720] and infecting to the cities of the United States. And right now, we're organizing an opposition [17:32.720 --> 17:40.880] to the step-up US intervention, vis-à-vis proxies, but also coordinated by the CIA for intervention [17:40.880 --> 17:47.040] in Syria. So we're an active historicization. We link the issues of war abroad with the [17:47.040 --> 17:51.360] pressing issues of social and economic justice within the United States, which of course, [17:51.360 --> 17:58.400] very grave issues. There are 30 to 40 million Americans who are unemployed or under-employed, [17:58.400 --> 18:05.680] many, many millions more going into poverty while a big part of the national treasury goes for war [18:05.680 --> 18:12.080] and militarism and the invasion and occupation and bombing of other people. So we try to combine [18:12.080 --> 18:17.280] a piece and social justice and try to educate the American public about these issues. [18:17.280 --> 18:23.760] Okay, Mr. Ryan, why is it that the anti-war movement, it lost momentum, [18:23.760 --> 18:29.360] like especially in recent years, especially after 2008 elections of President Obama? [18:30.640 --> 18:36.880] Well, I think there are two reasons. One of course is that many people identified the [18:36.880 --> 18:44.160] Iraq invasion with George W. Bush and anticipated that the Obama administration would represent [18:44.160 --> 18:48.640] not simply the absence of Bush, but something new and different. And I think there was a hopefulness [18:48.640 --> 18:54.960] on the part of many people in the anti-war movement that Obama would quote, do the right thing. [18:56.240 --> 19:02.800] And secondly, and I think this is important is that a factor for US politics is the [19:03.760 --> 19:10.720] the significance of American soldiers and Marines who are fighting killing, being killed, [19:10.720 --> 19:16.960] being wounded, in other words, the personal engagement of American service people in foreign wars. [19:16.960 --> 19:22.800] And I think what we saw in the case of Libya, the US, along with its NATO partners, [19:22.800 --> 19:26.880] bombed Libya relentlessly. The number of US casualties was exactly zero [19:28.160 --> 19:33.680] during the course of the bombing campaign. And so the American government constructed a foreign [19:33.680 --> 19:39.840] policy that was equally aggressive, but make sure that all the bleeding was done on the other side. [19:39.840 --> 19:45.360] And I think that was done as a political calculation to keep the American political opposition [19:45.360 --> 19:50.160] on the sidelines. Okay, Mr. Ryan, thank you for joining us. Keep up the good work. Thank you very [19:50.160 --> 19:54.960] much. Right, thank you. Thank you. Now I'll go back to my guest via Skype, Mr. Chris. [19:56.560 --> 20:02.080] You've heard, as I was speaking to my guest, Mr. Brian. And we talked about how the anti-war [20:02.080 --> 20:10.640] moment lost its momentum somewhere somehow. Do you agree with this? Clearly, until the troops came out [20:10.640 --> 20:18.400] of Iraq, it was a very strong movement. And the British troops did come out of Iraq in the promise [20:18.400 --> 20:24.160] was made at East in 2006. So that was important. And then there have been a series of demonstrations [20:24.160 --> 20:31.520] since then that have been a major, major size. The teachers I mentioned, the demonstrations against [20:31.520 --> 20:40.160] the attacks by Israel and Gaza, which have been, you know, demonstrated the historic size. [20:40.880 --> 20:47.840] So, and that's right up until 2009, 2010. So, I wouldn't, I wouldn't write us the anti-war movement. [20:47.840 --> 20:55.840] I think what's happened is that the British government has been forced to commit with roaring [20:55.840 --> 21:02.240] the troops from Afghanistan, which is to some extent, you know, stop people going out on the streets. [21:02.240 --> 21:08.080] But if the British government decided to participate in another war, for example, if there was [21:08.080 --> 21:14.080] an attack on Iran and the British government committed to supporting an Israeli strike or a [21:14.080 --> 21:18.160] US strike, I think we're deeply proud on the streets again, because one thing that hasn't [21:18.160 --> 21:23.040] changed indeed one thing that has actually increased has been the topic of opposition to wars. [21:23.040 --> 21:27.760] So, I think it's a complicating picture. I mean, I agree with what he says about Obama. I think people [21:27.760 --> 21:33.280] thought Obama was going to be different. And in a sense he has been different, but not in the way [21:33.280 --> 21:38.560] that people host, because what he's done is he's changed and he's strategy. So that now, you know, [21:38.560 --> 21:45.520] they're not sending American troops in any series numbers into the place they want to attack. [21:45.520 --> 21:51.200] They're attacking the Muslims. Exactly. And that obviously is a, you know, they hold that [21:51.200 --> 21:57.360] that's a kind of cost-free operation from their point of view. This is strategy that they can [21:57.360 --> 22:02.480] do. They can conduct without consulting with the people and people that even know about it. [22:02.480 --> 22:07.120] So I think that's had an impact as well, but on the, but in general terms, and it's true in [22:07.120 --> 22:15.280] America as well, it's a very, very big section of the population that completely opposes these [22:15.280 --> 22:19.040] kind of imperial wars. And that's very, very important. [22:19.040 --> 22:23.120] Okay. But, of course, I want you to stay for a minute. I'll go now to my guest in the studio, [22:23.120 --> 22:29.600] Mr. Assad. Mr. Assad. How important do you think is getting the youth involved and like [22:29.600 --> 22:35.600] getting youth activists all together in fighting war and in creating more peace in a society? [22:36.240 --> 22:45.600] Listen, I think that it's obvious that the youth are those who are asked to carry guns, [22:45.600 --> 22:53.760] whether in a war or in a civil war, and they will be its first victims. Of course. [22:53.760 --> 23:02.880] So the more we talk to young people, we address them about being nonviolent, about looking [23:02.880 --> 23:14.240] towards other solutions, because at the end violence helps nobody. And nobody wins a war or a civil [23:14.240 --> 23:20.800] war, saying that everybody loses. Okay. Now, how, what tools are you used to implement to you? [23:20.800 --> 23:28.480] Like, how can we get them involved, really? Well, it's, if, if I may continue what I was trying [23:28.480 --> 23:37.280] to explain about the organizations I work in, we have recently created a new movement, which is [23:37.280 --> 23:45.600] not registered yet, we call the ex-fifters. And we address to the Lebanese population recently, [23:46.240 --> 23:55.280] three weeks or a month ago, maybe, our first press declaration, we called it from the ex-fifters [23:55.280 --> 24:01.360] to the new fighters, because we have new fighters today, young people carrying guns and going to [24:01.360 --> 24:09.520] fight the other inside our country. So this is, this is one way, which is to address them directly. [24:09.520 --> 24:17.760] Now, the other way is through what we are trying to do in this gathering of 29 NGOs that work [24:17.760 --> 24:25.120] together for civil peace, that we called Wadatunahalasun our, our unity will save us. [24:25.120 --> 24:30.240] Okay. Mr. Asad, I would have to interrupt you here. Thank you very much for being on the show. [24:30.240 --> 24:33.600] Mr. Chris, thank you also for being on the show. And I would like to thank also, [24:33.600 --> 24:39.040] I'm Sabrina Becker for joining us via phone. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. See you next week. [24:39.040 --> 25:03.040] Bye-bye. [25:39.040 --> 25:49.520] Bye. [25:50.480 --> 26:06.320] Bye. [26:06.320 --> 26:22.320] The only constant variable in life is change. [26:22.320 --> 26:46.320] Proder perspective, arguments and counter arguments on our platform, global insights, the globe on our platform. [26:46.320 --> 26:58.320] Let the Jock News channel, the truth, fears no questions. [27:16.320 --> 27:34.320] It is also fine to die in our beds on a clean pillow when among our friends. [27:34.320 --> 27:43.320] It is fine to die once our hands crossed on our chests, empty and pale. [27:43.320 --> 27:51.320] With no scratches, no chains, no banners and no petitions. 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