Democracy Now! September 13, 2001

Note: Today's DN! in Exile consists of two one hour segments. NEWS HEADLINES LONGTIME ACTIVISTS AND WRITERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S MARCH TO WAR In the midst of the rising tide of Congressional and Bush Administration calls for a harsh military response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, there is a remarkable, hawkish unity in the views being expressed in the mainstream media. Former government officials such as Henry Kissinger, Richard Helms, and Oliver North, themselves deeply involved in terrorist activities while they were in government, are now trotted out by the networks to offer "neutral" commentary on the US government's response. Voices articulating an alternative perspective in opposition to the drumbeat of war have disappeared from the mainstream media almost entirely. Disappeared everywhere but from Democracy Now! Guests: Manning Marable, Professor of History and Political Science at Columbia University, author of many books, including Black Liberation in Conservative America (1997), Speaking Truth to Power: Essays on Race, Radicalism and Resistance (1996). Howard Zinn, historian and author of A People's History of the United States and You can't be neutral on a moving train among other works. Zinn is also an activist who has spent much of his life working for social change in the civil rights and antiwar movements. Grace Paley, one of America's most revered short story writers and a longtime peace activist. SECOND HOUR NEWS HEADLINES ANTI MUSLIM AND ARAB ATTACKS AND THREATS SPREAD ACROSS US An ugly and perhaps predictable backlash is sprouting across the nation as federal officials point to the Middle East in their investigation of the terror attacks in New York and Washington. Meanwhile Congress and the Bush Administration continue to issue calls for vengeance and harsh military retaliation, fueling anxiety among Muslim and Arab Americans, who remember from the Persian Gulf War and the Oklahoma City Bombing where such calls lead. Guest: Hussein Ibish, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. Related link: Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee ORGANIZING NONVIOLENTLY AGAINST WAR AND RACISM IN THE MIDST OF MILITARISM In the midst of the rising tide of Congressional and Bush Administration calls for a harsh military response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, there is a remarkable, hawkish unity in the views being expressed in the mainstream media. Former government officials such as Henry Kissinger, Richard Helms, and Oliver North, themselves deeply involved in terrorist activities while they were in government, are now trotted out by the networks to offer "neutral" commentary on the US government's response. Voices articulating an alternative perspective in opposition to the drumbeat of war and in favor of nonviolence have disappeared from the mainstream media almost entirely. Disappeared everywhere but from Democracy Now! Guests: Simona Sharoni, an Israeli feminist and peace activist, Executive director of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development, Sharoni has written extensively about Middle East politics and conflict resolution. Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness, nearing the end of a 40 day fast to protest US sanctions against Iraq. David McReynolds, War Resisters League, Presidential Candidate of the Socialist Party in the 2000 elections. Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit Priest, poet and author of more than 50 books, longtime peace activist. Related links: Voices in the Wilderness War Resisters League.