Medea Benjamin on Saudi Arabia, Arissa Hall on Mama’s Bail Out Day

[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin Medea Benjamin Arissa Hall Full Show @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin170519.mp3″]

MP3 Link

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This week on CounterSpin: “While Saudi Arabia’s restrictions on freedom and ban on women driving often grab headlines, Trump is not expected to make human rights concerns a centerpiece of his talks with Saudi royals on Saturday.” That, from AP‘s story on Trump’s state visit, leads one to wonder: If Saudi Arabia’s abuses are such common press fare, how does that sit with the credulity suggested earlier in the same piece, with the unchallenged statement that King Salman says he and Trump will “‘forge a new partnership’ in the war against extremism”? We’ll hear from Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the peace group Code Pink and author of Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US/Saudi Connection.

Transcript: ‘It’s the Most Misogynist, Gender-Segregated Country in the World’

[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin Medea Benjamin Interview @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin170519Benjamin.mp3″]

MP3 Link

Brooklyn Community Bail Fund

Also on the show: National Mama’s Bail Out Day pooled resources to bring dozens of black women home for Mother’s Day. The grassroots action called attention to the country’s feudalistic bail system, in which people convicted of no crime are jailed for inability to pay a cash amount. At a time when some are calling openly for theoretical “grown ups” to come and save us, such creative, loving actions remind us what community can do. Arissa Hall is project manager at the National Bail Fund Network. She’ll join us to talk about Mama’s Bail Out Day.

Transcript: ‘What Bail Does Is Coerce Guilty Pleas’

[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin Arissa Hall Interview @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin170519Hall.mp3″]

MP3 Link

First we’ll take a quick look back at recent press, including cut-and-pasted ICE press releases and freedom for Chelsea Manning.

[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin Banter @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin170519Banter.mp3″]

MP3 Link

SOURCE LINKS:

• “10 Reasons Trump Should Not Strengthen Saudi Ties,” by Medea Benjamin (Common Dreams, 5/17/17)
• Mama’s Bail Out Day
• Selling Off Our Freedom: How Insurance Corporations Have Taken Over Our Bail System, by Color of Change (5/10/17)