Democracy Now! April 3, 2002

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Program Title:
Democracy Now! April 3, 2002
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0450.133
Description: 

Interview with international activist, in Bethlehem, a 21-year-old US citizen is shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in Ramullah, with her 9-month-old baby on her lap. GUEST GREG PALAST, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, talks about the Bush family, the Saudi family, and oil.

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 EXCLUSIVE: A 21-YEAR-OLD US CITIZEN, SURAIDA SALEH, IS GUNNED DOWN BY ISRAELI SOLDIERS IN RAMULLAH; THE STATE DEPARTMENT KNOWS, BUT DOES NOTHING; HER FATHER BURIES HER IN THE HOSPITAL PARKING LOT BECAUSE THE HOSPITAL MORGUE IS OVERFLOWING AND UNDER THE STATE OF SIEGE NO ONE CAN GET TO THE CEMETARY Israeli warplanes, armor and infantry launched a huge attack on the Palestinian town of Bethlehem as Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon pushed ahead with the second phase of his five-day long assault on Palestinian targets. The assault was opened by Israeli helicopters on a number of targets around Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. Witnesses described desperate close quarter fighting in the old part of Bethlehem, a warren of narrow alleys and stone streets behind Manger Square, as Israeli forces went from house to house and entered religious buildings searching for Palestinian fighters. Outgunned, the Palestinians fought desperately to keep Israeli troops out of Manger Square itself. A group of international activists in Bethlehem report that there are injured Palestinian civilians inside the church in Manger Square. They hope to help rescue the injured and bring them to hospital. The activists turned down the offer from the US consulate to be evacuated from Bethlehem as the siege on the city began. We are joined by one of the activists inside the state of siege. GUEST: KRISTEN SCHURR, activist with the International Solidarity Movement, at the Al Azzeh/Beit Jabrir refugee camp CONTACT: www.palsolidarity.org www.jerusalem.indymedia.org It was reported widely last Friday that the first victim of Israels latest siege on the West Bank city of Ramallah was 21-year-old woman holding her 9-month-old son who was shot while driving her car. What most media outlets did not report, however, is that she was a US citizen. Or that she was shot by Israeli soldiers. But that is what the group American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice discovered in interviews with the family of the killed woman, Suraida Saleh. Her family has been unable to give Suraida a proper burial because they cannot safely leave their house. Her father called the US embassy in Israel to ask for protection so they could retrieve their daughters body from the hospital, but they have not yet received any response. On Tuesday, Democracy Now spoke to the office of consular affairs at the state department. They said that the state department was aware that Suraida Saleh was a US citizen, but did not plan to release a statement or take any action. GUEST: RAEED TAYEH, American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice CONTACT: www.global-peace.org GUEST: FARHAN MOHAMMED SALEH, father of Suraida Saleh, the 21-year-old woman gunned down by Israeli soldiers 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:40 WHAT WE DONT HEAR IN THE US MEDIA ABOUT THE BUSH FAMILY, THE SAUDI FAMILY, AND OIL: AN INTERVIEW WITH INVESTIGATVE REPORTER GREG PALAST Saudi Arabia's Middle East peace initiative will top the agenda when Crown Prince Abdullah meets President Bush on April 25. The de facto Saudi leader's peace initiative -- which offers Israel normal ties with Arabs in exchange for a full withdrawal of Arab land occupied in 1967 -- won full backing at last month's Arab summit in Beirut. The prince is expected to highlight the "urgency" of a greater U.S. role in curbing the Israeli-Palestinian violence when he visits Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, according to a Saudi Arabian source. Prince Abdullah accepted Bush's invitation nine months after snubbing a similar invite in anger over what he saw as U.S. bias toward Israel. In August, Prince Abdullah warned Bush that ties between the oil-rich kingdom and its key ally were at a crossroads and Riyadh would be forced to review them unless Washington took steps to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Investigative reporter Greg Palast tells another story of the connections between Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration. Palast is the author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, and in that book he digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters have the courage or freedom to cover. From Tallahassee to Karachi, Houston to Santiago, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud and financial manipulation, globally. He began talking to us on Mondays program about the Bush-Saudi connection, Enron, Argentina and the stolen US election of 2000. GUEST: GREG PALAST, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, and an investigative reporter who writes for the BBC, the British Guardian and the British Observer. IN STUDIO CONTACT: www.gregpalast.com 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:41-9:58 GREG PALAST contd GUEST: GREG PALAST, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, and an investigative reporter who writes for the BBC, the British Guardian and the British Observer. IN STUDIO CONTACT: www.gregpalast.com 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS

Date Recorded on: 
April 3, 2002
Date Broadcast on: 
April 3, 2002
Item duration: 
59 min.
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Distributor: 
WPFW; Amy Goodman, host. April 3, 2002
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