Two years ago, starting in February 2011, much of the world became absorbed in the Arab Spring uprisings happening throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Many international observers were excited by the successes in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. However, in other cases, regimes in power were successful...

The present conflict in Syria is a rather ugly mutation of the Arab uprisings that erupted across the Middle East and North Africa over a year ago. As in other countries, the uprising in Syria began with peaceful demonstrations for democratic reform, only to devolve into a violence that has...

This month, I would like to share a piece on the movement to prevent the construction of what would be the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam on Brazil's Xingu River. Our Cultures of Resistance film crew was there for a massive indigenous demonstration in 2008. Today, the Battle for the Xingu...

I was in Seoul, South Korea this month at the invitation of the wonderful EBS TV Documentary Festival, and was truly, happily surprised to see a resurgence of activism among ordinary Koreans. Don't get me wrong. Since its founding, Korea has had a tradition of fierce, die-hard activism (which Koreans...

It is no coincidence that the two main success stories of the "Arab Spring" -- Egypt and Tunisia -- were both non-violent and non-western in nature. These anti-authoritarian protests across the Middle East and North Africa have been a time of awkward shuffling for much of the western world, and...

In 2009, the United States government spent some $650 billion on its military. This is more than the next 46 highest-spending countries combined. Much of this treasure ended up in the hands of profit-driven weapons manufacturers. In the following short film, I take a brief look at the current state...

The Israeli government's increasingly militaristic foreign policy must remain a fundamental concern to anyone who strives for peace and justice on our planet. I am under no illusions, however, that what is happening to the Palestinians should somehow eclipse all other conflicts taking place in the world. Given recent events,...

In making my documentary film about electronic music, Modulations (1998), I learned a great deal about rap music. The genius of hip hop emerged first as party sport -- the urban poor salvaging musical parts to create something entirely new -- but soon morphed into an expression of grief and...

In the immediate aftermath of the massacre aboard the Mavi Marmara on May 31st, 2010, while journalists and activists were detained and isolated from the world, the Israeli government was quick to unleash their own version of events. Like the physical assault on the boat, the Israeli media assault was...

I would like to say that I am disappointed by this new round of sanctions leveled against Iran by Congress, but the sad fact is that I didn't expect anything less than the aggressive wrong-headedness displayed by our elected legislators last week. And so, as the war drummers up their...

As a passenger of the Mavi Marmara, the flagship vessel of the humanitarian convoy that Israel attacked in international waters, I am cautiously optimistic about Israel's announced plan of "easing" the Gaza blockade.

Easing, after all, is not the same as "complete lifting," and it is yet to be determined...