Democracy Now! April 10, 2002

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 THE JENIN MASSACRE: THE SABRA & SHATILLA OF THE SECOND INTIFADA? Jenin is a city of the dead. That is how a 14-year old Palestinian boy recently described his home to a "Times of London" reporter. In the last two days, reports of horrific violence and human rights abuses have been seeping out of Jenin. There are stories of soldiers using the elderly as human shields, of women and children being rounded up, of men being shot in the head, execution-style, and of missiles "falling like rain." The Associated Press is reporting that the Israeli government is censoring reports on Jenin, and Israeli forces are not allowing ambulances into the camp. So there is no confirmed body count available, but estimates range from 100 to 300 Palestinians have been killed. Yesterday, 13 reserve soldiers were killed in an ambush. According to the Israeli Haaretz, their deaths bring the number of Israelis killed in Jenin to 23. The Ha'aretz also reports Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is privately referring to the killing in Jenin as a "massacre." GUEST: KAMEL JABER, Jenin citizen whose home overlooks the Jenin refugee camp GUEST: ALI, a Palestinian from a village next to Jenin speaking to us from inside Yasser Arafats compound. Ali has been unable to reach his family for 6 days. 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:40 A PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST REPORTS FROM JERUSALEM THAT ISRAELI AUTHORITIES HAVE REVOKED HIS PRESS PASS, CALLING HIM A SECURITY THREAT; THE ISRAELI MILITARY THREATENS TO SHOOT FOREIGNERS ACCOMPANYING AMBULANCES IN NABLUS, BUT INTERNATIONAL ACTIVISTS DEFY THEIR ORDER An article in yesterdays London Independent by Justin Huggler and Said Ghazali begins: The sound of four explosions came down the phone line. A woman could be heard screaming in the background: "Come and save us." This was in the middle of an interview with a Red Crescent ambulance official. He said the woman's house had been hit by rockets fired from an Israeli helicopter. These were the voices that came out of Jenin refugee camp yesterday when it came under the heaviest attack since the Israeli army began its onslaught in the West Bank. The accounts are chilling: stories of Israeli forces using the elderly as human shields in front of their tanks, of women and children being rounded up, of homes being demolished, of bodies littering the streets. These allegations cannot be confirmed, because of the censorship imposed by the Israeli authorities, who have refused journalists access to the camp. They are the claims made by those inside the refugee camp, speaking by mobile phone, and those who have recently fled. We are joined now by one of the journalists, Said Gazali, who has been translating interviews with residents in the besieged Jenin refugee camp.Gazalis press pass has been revoked by the Israeli authorities. GUEST: SAID GHAZALI, Palestinian journalist who has been interviewing Jenin citizens for the London Independent CONTACT: www.independent.co.uk GUEST: BETH DAOUD, activist with the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace and the International Solidarity Movement. in Nablus CONTACT: www.palsolidarity.org; www.ccmep.org 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:41-9:58 CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY LYNNE STEWART IS INDICTED FOR SUPPORTING TERRORISM BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT The Justice Department yesterday indicted a leading civil rights attorney on charges of supporting terrorism. Attorney General John Ashcroft accused Manhattan attorney Lynne Stewart, her translator, and two others of helping her client Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman deliver messages from his Minnesota prison cell to his followers in Egypt. In 1995, Sheik Rahman was accused of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison for plotting to attack the UN and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. Two years later, he was barred from sending or receiving written or recorded messages of any kind from his prison cell. If his lawyers wanted to meet with him, they had to pledge to discuss only legal matters. But according to John Ashcroft, Stewart broke this rule by helping Rahman deliver coded messages to the members of his organization in Egypt. He says she allowed a translator to read and reply to letters sent by Rahman's followers. Ashcroft claims some of these letters advocated the resumption of "military operations" in Egypt. The Attorney General could not cite a single specific terrorist act that resulted from these communications, but he called them "very important signaling to the Islamic Group. Stewart, her translator, and two others face possible sentences of five to 20 years. Stewart was indicted Tuesday afternoon and released on $500,000 personal recognizance bond. The indictment also charges Mohammed Yousry, her Arabic interpreter, and Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a postal worker from Staten Island. Yousrys bond was set at $750,000. Sattar was held without bail. A fourth man, Yassi al-Sirri, the head of the London based Islamic Observations Center, is being held in Britain after his arrest in October. Stewart said: Theyve arrested the lawyer and the interpreter. How much further are they going? Are they going to arrest the lady that cleans the sheiks cell? GUEST: LYNNE STEWART, civil rights attorney IN STUDIO MUSIC: 6: PEACE CHORALE (BUSHWHACKED) Jeanne Lee Natural Affinities (Owl Records CD) 20: STAY ON THE BATTLEFIELD Sweet Honey in the Rock Sacred Ground (EarthBeat Records CD) 40: NOBODY LEFT TO CROWN Richie Havens Time (Silver Lining Music CD) End: WAKE UP The Chambers Brothers Time Has Come: The Best of The Chambers Brothers (Columbia CD) 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS