Democracy Now! April 19, 2002

Program Title:
Democracy Now! April 19, 2002
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0450.145
Description: 

Massacre in Jenin Refugee Camp ; MOTHER AGAPIA, a nun outside Jerusalem and sister of George Stephanopoulos ; coalition of activists in DC; discussion with leaders A20 Mobilization.

9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:15 A LIVE REPORT FROM THE THIRD GROUND ZERO: A MASSACRE REVEALED AS PALESTINIANS SEARCH FOR THEIR LOVED ONES AMIDST THE WRECKAGE OF JENIN REFUGEE CAMP This is how the article begins: When they found the body it was in pieces and so they gathered it all up out of the rubble, great chunks of blackened, rotting flesh with bits of bone sticking out, and piled them up on a blanket. The smell made us retch and stumble away, gasping for clean air. The Palestinians said the putrefying flesh and bone was Mohammed Massoud Abu Sb'a. Those words were written about the Jenin refugee camp by Independent reporter, Justin Huggler. The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, described the scene as horrific beyond belief. He said Israels actions were unjustifiable, no matter what the military objective. He told Israeli Army Radio, Jenin will forever be a blot on the history of the state of Israel. Aid workers and human rights monitors have started to call the destroyed refugee camp Ground Zero. GUEST: JUSTIN HUGGLER, reporter, London Independent CONTACT: www.independent.org 9:15-9:30 AS ISRAEL MOVES ITS TROOPS TOWARDS GAZA AND EAST JERUSALEM, WE SPEAK TO MOTHER AGAPIA, A NUN UNDER SIEGE IN HER CONVENT OUTSIDE JERUSALEM. SHE IS THE SISTER OF TV COMMENTATOR AND FORMER CLINTON AIDE, GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS. Once again the White House seems to be shifting its PUBLIC position towards the crisis in Israel-Palestine. Even as Israel invaded Gaza last night, President Bush praised Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace" and suggested he had fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the Occupied Territories. "Israel started withdrawing quickly after our call from smaller cities on the West Bank. History will show that they have responded. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave me a timetable and he's met the timetable." Bush also appeared to back away from earlier statements that Israel must immediately withdraw from Ramallah and Bethlehem; he said he understood why it was keeping its forces in those two West Bank cities. The Presidents change in tune comes just one day after Colin Powell returned from his largely failed mission to the Middle East. Two weeks ago, President Bush famously called on Israel to end its invasion of Palestinian cities without delay. He urged Israel to stop all settlement activity and to withdraw to U.N. recognized borders. But the Israeli siege continued. Within hours of Bush's speech, the Israelis stepped up their assault on the Jenin Refugee Camp. Days later, they entered the towns of Qalqilya and Tulkarm. Then, on Tuesday, Israeli troops entered the East Jerusalem suburbs of Abu Dis and Izzariyeh. Israeli military sources said the troops went into the neighborhoods because of reports that terror attacks were going to be launched from there. But residents of the area say the towns are peaceful and that it is the Israeli soldiers who are provoking the conflict. Well, we are going to go now to one of these towns on the outskirts of Jerusalem, to the convent where Mother Agapia lives. Mother Agapia is a Russian Orthodox nun who oversees a convent school for 350 Palestinian girls outside Jerusalem. She came to the Occupied Territories from the UnitedStates some six years ago. She is the sister of ABCNEWS commentator and former Clinton aide, George Stephanopoulos.GUEST: MOTHER AGAPIA, Russian Orthodox nun under siege in the Occupied Territories. 9:30-9:31 One Minute Music Break 9:31-9:40 A COALITION OF ACTIVISTS FROM THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY GATHERS IN D.C. TO SAY NO TO WAR, NO TO THE OCCUPATION, NO TO INJUSTICE IN COLOMBIA, AND YES TO PEACE, FREEDOM, AND EQUALITY. A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH SOME OF THE LEADERS OF THIS WEEKENDS A-20 MOBILIZATION Today is the seventh anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, the terrorist attack that ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building, killing 168 people. Today is also the anniversary of the death of David Sanes Rodriguez, a civilian security guard killed in US bombing excercises on Vieques. He died three years ago, when a Navy pilot misfired two 500-pound live bombs during a training session. Rodriguezs death ignited a wave of protest throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, and sparked an ongoing campaign to halt Navy bombing practice in Vieques. That struggle still continues today. Vieques is the training ground for many of the soldiers now fighting in the so-called war on terror. Thousands of people will be protesting that war this weekend in Washington DC. They will be joined by thousands more from several points on the activist compass, including anti-globalization activists protesting the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Palestinian rights demonstrators rallying against U.S. aid to Israel, and others calling for an end to injustice in Colombia. GUEST: BRENDA STOKELY, President AFSCME, local 215, DC 1707. She is also one of the co-chairs of Labor Against the War. Her union is the only one nationwide to have endorsed the campaign against the so-called war on terrorism. GUEST: RON DANIELS, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Contact: www.ccr-ny.org GUEST: SALIH BOOKER, executive director of Africa Action, the oldest US-based advocacy group on African affairs. Contact: www.africapolicy.org GUEST: REVEREND LUCIUS WALKER JR., executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). IFCO is the only national ecumenical foundation committed exclusively to the support of community organizing. Video Info: www.ifconews.org GUEST: MARIO MURILLO, professor of communications at HOFSTRA and longtime producer at WBAI. For years he has produced and hosted the weekly news-magazine "Our Americas". He is the author of the book, Islands of Resistance: Vieques, Puerto Rico, and US Policy. GUEST: VERNA AVERY BROWN, Deputy Executive Director, Pacifica Contact: www.pacifica.org 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:40-9:58 A COALITION OF ACTIVISTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY GATHERS IN DC CONTD 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits MUSIC: 6: WAR, Edwin Starr The Very Best of Edwin Starr (Motown CD 30: APRIL 20TH, PERSPECTIVES ON PEACE? PROTEST 40: SISTER ROSA, Neville Brothers Yellow Moon (A&M Records CD) End: WE SHALL OVERCOME, Bruce Springsteen Where Have All the Flowers Gone (The Songs Of Pete Seeger) (Appleseed Recordings CD)

Date Recorded on: 
April 19, 2002
Date Broadcast on: 
April 19, 2002
Item duration: 
59 min.
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Distributor: 
WPFW; Amy Goodman, host. April 19, 2002
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