Bar Crawl Radio

Day 33 -- Veteran's For Peace "Fast for Gaza." This will be the final of the "Fast for Gaza" conversations with peacemaker Kathy Kelly.  It was the beginning of a brutal heat wave in NYC; we found a shady spot on the UN side of 1st Avenue.  On the opposite side a small group of fasting protestors held signs and umbrellas.Kathy and I talked about her 2004 book "Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison" -- focusing on the chapter "Change Agents" -- when she was visited in Pekin Prison by two FBI agents.  Kathy talks about the families and children she got to know during her many visits to Iraqi hospitals during the decades-long UN / US sanctions on Iraq. UNICEF reported that 500,000 children under the age of five died between 1991 and 1998 due to those sanctions. Kelly's "Voices in the Wilderness" worked to bring medical supplies to those beleaguered people.The music in this program is “Hiroshima Rising from the Abyss" performed by the Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin Jazz Band, featuring drummer Andy Watson.Alan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com

Day 26 -- Veterans for Peace "Fast for Gaza. This BCR podcast begins and ends with music -- "Let My People Go" -- from “System Ali” – nine musicians -- Jewish and Arab -- singing in their native languages – Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, Amharic and English. My conversation with Kathy Kelly continues as Israel and Iran exchange missiles and killer drones. She arrived at the vigil at the US Mission to the UN a bit late because she had been attending a meeting of faith NGOs hearing a report from two Palestinians and an Israeli about suffering in Gaza of which few are aware. Banks are closed making any normal business impossible. The cost of leaving is astronomical and movement within Gaza is impossible.I sat down with Kathy on a metal bench on the United Nations side of the street. She opened her notebook and shared what she had learned.Alan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com

Day 23 -- VFP Fast for Gaza.    I spoke with peacemaker Kathy Kelly and former member of the US AirForce Joy Metzler and asked them about their life choices that led them to join the "Fast for Gaza." Joy Metzler, 23, is a member of VFP and co-founder of Serivcemembers For Ceasefire – US military veterans calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza. Joy graduated from the USAF Academy in 2023 and was discharged as a conscientious objector citing “US aggression in the Middle East and the murderous ethnic cleansing in Palestine.”  I asked Joy what she would say to the young US Marines recently deployed to the streets of Los Angeles in support of ICE. The night before our conversation -- Israel attacked Iran's military structures and leadership. While we sat on a metal bench outside the United Nations, the Security Council was preparing to hold an emergency meeting.  This program begins with a statement by the United Kingdom Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, calling for calm in the Middle East.Alan WinsonBCR Podcast

Monday – June 9, 2025 -- 19th day of the VFP Fast for Gaza -- talking with peacemaker Kathy Kelly and friends, as they consume no more than 250 calories a day for 40 days in solidarity with the citizens of Gaza who have been forced to exist on very little sustenance   This program begins with a Democracy Now! report on the seizure of the Gaza-bound aid ship – Madleen – in international waters by Israeli forces.When I arrived at the US Mission – Kathy Kelly was asking Bill Tottenham -- U.S. Marine veteran and VFP representative -- about his attempt to get big media to report on the “Fast for Gaza” VFP protest. I then spoke with Kelly about an early morning decision to walk from the U.S. Mission on 1st Avenue -- to the United Kingdom Mission to the UN several blocks to the north -- to raise awareness about the Israeli seizure of the yacht -- Madleen – operated by the Pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition.I spoke with several of the fasters as we walked. At Rockefeller Center, security pushed the fasters out of the area and at St. Patrick Cathedral, NYP officers ordering the fasters off the north porch. Mike Ferner of the VFP promised that for the rest of the "Fast for Gaza" protest, these walks would continue with a focus on the New York Times building.

This is Day 16 of the Veterans for Peace "40-Day Fast for Gaza."Since May 22, 2025, I’ve been talking with peacemaker Kathy Kelly who has been fasting to raise awareness about how the citizens of Gaza are starving. It is the day before Eid al-Adha – the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice remembering Ibrahim or Abraham’s readiness to kill his son for his God. I sat down with Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell of Malloy Iowa -- a Catholic Worker and worker for peace – he was in town to receive the 2025 Pax Christi Peacemaker AwardWe sat on a bench in the shade on the United Nations side of 1st Avenue. I shared an email I recently received from Ariella Dubrowin – an American-Israeli – who works as a lactation consultant and who calls for the destruction of Hamas as one step in protecting her country from its many enemies. She had been listening to these podcast and had some questions for the Fasters which were used to organize this conversation with Kathy and Brian.At the end of the 35 minute program, Kathy reads from her recent article entitled “The Prisons of Gaza and Home – Fast for Gaza – Day 14”Alan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com

Monday - Day 12 of the 40 day fast -- Veterans for Peace's "Fasting for Gaza.I met up with peacemaker Kathy Kelly as she was starting a Zoom call with Global Solidarity for Peace in Palestine. Afterward, I asked her about Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, who spoke at the meeting regarding his arguments for a one state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, her fears for one forgotten student picked up by Trump's ICE force -- Columbia student Leqaa Kordia -- and the dangers of breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.I will be speaking with Kathy as she continues her 250 calorie-a-day fast about her concerns with the state of humanity. Let me know if there are any questions you would like to ask Kathy.Alan Winson -- barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Friday - Day 9 of the 40 day fast -- Veterans for Peace's "Fasting for Gaza." When I arrived at the US Mission across from the United Nations in Manhattan, a dozen peace activists where facing 1st Avenue with their signs calling Israel and the United States to feed the Palestinians of Gaza.  I first spoke with Mike Ferner -- Mike Ferner – a Vietnam War Veteran and former city council member of Toledo, Ohio, author, and peace activist – who had protested US war and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.  We talked about not eating; Mike was holding up quite well with his 250 calorie-a-day diet.I then had a longer conversation with Ms. Kelly who reported on her meeting with the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations and the need for Israel to uphold trade deals with the European Union. She explained how the Irish people understood starvation and famine in their genes and that young Irish artists -- the rap group KneeCap -- support a Palestinian state.If you have any questions for Kathy Kelly -- email me -- Alan Winson -- at barcrawlradio@gmail.com

I am talking with peace activist and Nobel Peace nominee Kathy Kelly as she fasts for 40 days in solidarity with the Palestinian people starving in Gaza. This is the sixth day of her fast. I first spoke with Catholic Worker Martha Hennessy -- granddaughter of Dorothy Day -- about the portrait of the U.S. President glowering behind the streetside glass wall of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.I then found Ms. Kelly who was accompanied by about 15 other supporters of the Veterans for Peace protest of the Israeli food blockade to Gaza. Kathy shared her approach to a long fast and the work that she continues to end war. She also commented on the recent -- suspect -- efforts by the Israeli government to bring food to the Palestinians in Gaza.I will talk to Kathy again on Friday -- Day 9 of the "Fast for Gaza."Alan Winson -- barcrawlradio@gmail.com

A NEW BCR SERIES:Starting on May 22, 2025, several peace activist will fast for 40 days -- vigiling in front of the United States Mission to the UN. They demand an end to US support of Israel's military and urge the American government to pressure Israel to open the Gazan borders to humanitarian aid. For this BCR series I will meet with one of these fasters -- Kathy Kelly -- periodically, and ask her to share her thoughts and concerns. Share your thoughts about this action at barcrawlradio@gmail.com or mike@veteransforpeace.orgAlan Winson -- BCR Producer and Co-Host