The genocidal war on the Palestinians has been going on since the formation of the Israeli state and it is only made possible through massive military and economic support by the US government, and by the manipulation of the public through control of information and views presented on the corporate controlled media, which has become a pro-war propaganda vehicle for US imperialism and the apartheid Zionist regime in Israel.
Pacifica Fightback is a network of supporters and programmers at Pacifica radio stations and affiliates and other community radio stations in the US. Pacifica was established in 1949 to oppose war and militarism and give a voice to many who were purged during the 1950’s McCarthyite cold war witch-hunts. It is the largest alternative radio broadcast network in the United States and is critical in this time of war-mongering and the threat of fascism in the US and around the world. Pacifica Fightback was formed in 2019 to oppose the shutdown and takeover of WBAI, and to defeat the attempts to reverse democratic gains and accountability at Pacifica and silence diverse radical voices through deceptive proposed Bylaws changes and rule-or-ruin tactics.
The US has well over 800 military bases and an unlimited overt and covert military “national security” budget of over $1.5 trillion dollars. This massive funding takes place while there is a war on working people and communities of color, with millions going without healthcare, decent housing or education. The profiteers make money on every bullet and missile sent to US funded wars abroad. Voices in the labor movement who speak out for union democracy and militancy, and who challenge the militaristic US policies, particular vis a vis Israel, have been targeted or silenced by bureaucrats.
Today journalists are being targeted who support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, or oppose the occupation, and there’s retribution against those journalists who question or challenge the US imperialist agenda. In Palestine, at least 67 journalists have been among those killed by the Israeli military with US armaments, and journalists were being targeted even before the current Israeli carpet bombing and ground-forces invasion of Gaza, such as the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces. They tried to blame her death on Palestinian fire, but even the US had to acknowledge that Israeli shooters killed her. This is a conscious policy to try to control the flow of information.
We need to break the information blockade about who pays and who benefits from the US military industrial war machine, from Palestine to Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, to the encirclement of China. Pacifica and its commitment to peace and justice and to free speech and inquiry is also under attack by those who want to make it into an NPR type operation or to require unquestioning acceptance of Israeli and US government talking points. Rigging or seeking to eliminate local station election of delegates by members goes hand in hand with seeking to purge radical voices, engaged investigative journalism, and live coverage of movement actions.
Local station delegates are elected by the members who join each station. The minimum for listeners to join is $25 or three hours of supervised volunteer work for the station, such as on outreach. There is a large amount of programming on the Pacifica stations that provides viewpoints unavailable on corporate media, and journalism that tells the truth of what is going on in these wars and who the real war criminals are. (See examples on the list below)
Pacifica Fightback is struggling for Pacifica to cover the wars the US and its proxies are waging, and to help build a mass anti-war movement in the US. Please join one of the Pacifica stations by donating at the websites for WBAI (99.5 FM, NY) , WPFW (89.3 FM, DC), KPFT (90.1 FM, Houston), KPFK (90.7 FM, Los Angeles) or KPFA (94.1 Berkeley) and join the struggle to protect Pacifica and defend free speech radio.
—Pacifica Fightback
Partial List of Pacifica Programs That Are Covering The War On Palestine Truthfully and In Depth:
Equal Rights and Justice, Building Bridges (WBAI, WPFW, KPFK)
Democracy Now! on all Pacifica stations and many affiliates and other radio and TV stations
Middle East in Focus, SWANA [South-west Asia and North Africa) Region Radio, Lawyers Guild, Radio Ins
Flashpoints on KPFA and KPFK
The Grayzone Radio (KPFK, WBAI and affiliates)
News Views and On the Ground (WPFW)
Arab Voices on KPFT
Capitalism, Race & Democracy (nationally syndicated Pacifica program).
Check out your station’s archive of recent programming.