Hours later, in the worst bloodshed since the 1973 war between Israel and Syria, up to 23 civilians were dead and hundreds wounded after Israeli troops opened live fire on the protesters in the Golan. In the West Bank, Israeli troops used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds injuring more.

These latest protests come just three weeks after more than a dozen Palestinians were killed, and more than 100 others wounded, including 23-year-old American citizen Munib Masri, by Israeli forces while peacefully commemorating the Nakba, or dispossession of roughly 725,000 Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1947-8.

Fadi Quran is a Palestinian living in the West Bank. He is the founder of an alternative energy startup and also works as a coordinator within various youth movements involved in what is called The March 15th Movement marking their first nonviolent protests this spring. He is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Human Rights and Constitutional Law, and graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Physics and International Relations. We had a chance to talk sh0rtly before the Naksa day demonstrations, in New York.\

NOTE: this post was first posted 6/3 then updated thereafter.

Heather joins Laura in studio to grade Obama, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and of course the Ryan plan on the budget, the deficit, and the need for more stimulus.

Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine guitarist and protest singer as The Nightwatchman, was in Madison to support the workers' protest, and now his new music is inspired by those union workers.  His new EP, Union Town, is coming out soon and its proceeds will go to support The America Votes Labor Unity Fund, but you can download this track for free now at SaveWorkers.org.

Bernie Madoff, the infamous Wall Street Ponzi schemer who became one of the villains of the economic crisis, played on his clients' fear, not their greed. So says Diana Henriques, author of the new book Wizard of Lies. Having twice interviewed Madoff in prison, Diana notes that his personal charisma combined with Wall Street's lax regulations to create a perfect storm that wiped out his clients' wealth.

Diana joins Laura in studio for a conversation about Madoff, Wall Street, and the ways ordinary people get ripped off by complex financial schemes.

Finally, playwright Tony Kushner has spent his career fighting  prejudice, yet he was blocked from receiving an honorary degree at CUNY over his views on Israel. Laura has some thoughts.

Kushner, who also has an honorary degree from Brandeis University, told Salon's Justin Elliott that this was an “unprecedented and pretty ugly experience.”

Sadly, though, it's not that rare for academia to balk at support for Palestinians. Elliott notes that just this January, a Brooklyn College adjunct professor was fired—and later reinstated—after students and an assemblyman complained about his views.  Last summer, GRITtv guest and fellow Brooklyn College professor Moustafa Bayoumi was the center of a controversy around his book, How Does it Feel to Be A Problem? Being
Young and Arab in America. And back in 2009, Joel Kovel visited us at GRITtv to discuss his termination from Bard College, which he believed was over his pro-Palestinian views.

It's notable that the same cast of characters turns up again and again in these stories. Bruce Kesler, a Brooklyn College alum, caused a stir in both Brooklyn College cases, and Jeffrey Wiesenfeld is the CUNY board member who blocked Kushner's honor.

Wiesenfeld is, Elliott notes, a trustee at the pro-Israel think tank the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and an organizer of the Salute to Israel Day Parade Committee. His views are clearly not considered controversial or problematic.

Instead, even a famed Jewish playwright like Kushner, who reiterated in his letter to the CUNY trustees that he supports the continued existence of Israel even as he opposes the state's policies, is accused of being an extremist.

At a time when dancing in the streets is accepted as a proper response to a killing (of Osama bin Laden,) it's ironic  to see that support for human rights - in this case in Palestine - is still too controversial for college.

Omar and Sarah join Laura in studio for a discussion of the interlocking oppressions being fought by the BDS movement.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Democrats are moving forward with at least two recall elections for Republican state Senators who supported Scott Walker's union-busting, and Cory joins Laura to discuss via Skype from his district--which just happens to be the same district as that of Paul Ryan, the House GOP's leader on budget issues.

“People have rights, and when we say we want to end Israel's multitiered system of oppression...we must immediately, in the same sentence, say people have equal rights in every formal way," says Omar Barghouti, author of the new book Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. And author, activist and professor Sarah Schulman has been involved with the Palestinian queer movement, emphasizing that their struggle is deeply tied to the struggle to end the occupation.

Omar and Sarah join Laura in studio for a discussion of the interlocking oppressions being fought by the BDS movement.

Poet Remi Kanazi shares some of the instructions given to activists for Palestinian causes.

The ink on the compromise that kept the government open—barely--isn't even dry and they're already talking about the next round of cuts in Washington.  Laura explains why Obama should give up compromising and go on the offensive--armed with the latest round of information about CEO pay.

Sami Al Jundi, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, discovered the power of non-violent resistance in a very unlikely place, and his story is recounted in the new book The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker. Jen Marlowe, who is also on the board of directors of Mer-Khamis' Freedom Theater, co-authored the book with him, and they both join Laura to discuss the struggle for peace and justice.

We speak with the Rev. Jesse Jackson today as he travels to Madison, Wisconsin to be with protesters there for this anniversary, about Dr. King's unfinished work, about today's actions, and the sad loss last week of scholar Manning Marable.

Today we also mark another loss: the passing of Manning Marable, a tower of both intellect and activism.  One of the leading scholars on African-American history and the legacy of institutional racism and economic injustice, his formidable biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is being released this week.

We share with you a slice of one of his conversations on GRITtv, to give you just a taste of his spirit and insight.  Marable was reflecting on the comments of Attorney General Eric Holder's comment in February 2009 about our being a "nation of cowards" on the issue of race.

As we remember Dr. Martin Luther King and his legacy of nonviolent resistance, we also remember former GRITtv guest, Juliano Mer-Khamis, Arab-Israeli actor, director and teacher who was gunned down in Jenin, the West Bank town where he ran the Freedom Theater of Jenin. In an increasingly violent climate, how do we sustain a message of nonviolence?

Sami Al Jundi, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, discovered the power of non-violent resistance in a very unlikely place, and his story is recounted in the new book The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker. Jen Marlowe, who is also on the board of directors of Mer-Khamis' Freedom Theater, co-authored the book with him, and they both join Laura to discuss the struggle for peace and justice.

Finally, TransOcean's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded nearly a year ago, but executives are getting bonuses for the best year in safety in the company's history? What's next, a bonus for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship after the explosion that killed 29 miners a year ago this week in West Virginia?

James joins Laura in studio to discuss his book, his travels to and relationship with the city of Jerusalem, and what he hopes we can learn from that city.