Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24 7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the beginning of a ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces

and the human cost in Palestinian lives as television screens around the world

show heartbreaking images of wounded and traumatized children.

Joining us to discuss who is winning the military campaign but losing the information war

is Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

Previously she was the director of policy and government relations at Americans for Peace Now,

and before that she was a US Foreign Service officer serving in Jerusalem,

Washington, Tunis, and Beirut.

Lara is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus

on the Arab-Israeli conflict, settlements, and Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress.

Then, following the 565th mass shooting this year, we'll examine

the glaring inadequacy of the red and yellow flag laws meant to confiscate firearms from

mentally ill people who pose a danger to themselves and others. We'll speak with Jonathan Metzell,

Professor Sociology and Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University

and Director of its Centre for Medicine, Health and Society.

A prominent expert on gun violence and mental illness.

He's the author of several books, including Dying of Whiteness,

How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America's Heartland,

and his forthcoming book is What We've

Become, Living and Dying in a Country of Arms. Then finally we'll get a profile of the new

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