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From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 5-1-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
U.S.-backed Middle East peace plan released: A debate between
Electronic Intifada and AIPAC
Vieques celebrates the US Navy’s withdrawal from the
Puerto Rican Island: Concerns grow over environmental cleanup
after 50 years of military testing
To mark May Day, protests planned against oil companies,
weapons manufacturers and at government buildings: We go to
London for a report on protests there.
Could you go to jail for hosting a party or concert where
a guest uses drugs? ACLU warns of abuse of controversial drug
law snuck into Amber Alert legislation
Poet Jayne Cortez reads work at conference on women &
war
8:01-8:10 Headlines
8:11-8:12 One Minute Music Break
8:12-8:20 U.S.-backed Middle East peace plan released: A
debate between Electronic Intifada and AIPAC
A long-awaited U.S.-backed peace plan for the Middle East
was published last night.
Only hours after the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas was sworn in, he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
were given copies of the so-called “road map”
to peace.
Washington had demanded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
be replaced with Abbas before Washington would re-start the
peace process.
The “road-map” was drawn up the U.S., Russia,
the European Union and the United Nations.
Under the plan, the Palestinians are required to combat violence
against Israelis, adopt a new constitution, and recognize
the Jewish state's right to exist in peace and security. Israel
must withdraw from the Palestinian areas it has occupied since
September 2000, end curfews and roadblocks, halt the expansion
of Jewish settlements and dismantle illegal outposts, stop
the demolition of Palestinian homes and confiscation of land,
and commit to the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
A Palestinian state would be established within 3 years.
The Palestinians say both sides must meet their commitments
in parallel by the deadline of June 2003, and most foreign
countries agree. But the Israeli government is insisting that
Palestinians meet the test of "combating terror"
before Israel is required to do anything.
The London Guardian reports the Israelis also want a say
in judging the Palestinian efforts and have threatened to
abandon the road map entirely if they do not get their way.
The "quartet" of foreign players behind the process
fear that could effectively hand a veto to the Israelis or
to any suicide bomber.
Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell is planning to travel
Israel and the occupied territories next week to lobby for
the roadmap.
Hours after the publication of the peace plan, Israeli troops
killed 8 Palestinians in Gaza City, including a two-year-old
toddler and two teenagers. The AFP is reporting the toddler
was shot in the head.
60 Israeli tanks, armored troop carriers and helicopters
invaded the city and attacked an apartment building housing
dozens of people. Israeli military sources say they are after
a senior Hamas leader, that seven soldiers have been injured,
and that a pitched battle is still going on. Israeli helicopters
have begun shelling the area, and many people are trapped
inside. The AFP reached a woman trapped in the building, who
reported that women, children, and elderly people are screaming
and crying.
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot dead two other Palestinians.
And, it has emerged that a suicide bomber and his accomplice
who killed three people and injured scores at a Tel Aviv bar
yesterday may be British. Israeli officials say they carried
British passports and travelled to Israel specifically to
carry out the suicide mission.
- Rachel Murov, spokesperson for the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee
Link: www.aipac.org
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:30-8:45 Vieques celebrates the US Navy’s withdrawal
from the Puerto Rican Island: Concerns grow over environmental
cleanup after 50 years of military testing
The residents of Vieques are celebrating the US Navy’s
withdrawal from the Puerto Rican Island.
Fireworks shot into the sky last night. A minute before the
official midnight deadline, protesters broke down a fence
at the entrance to the bombing range and hundreds flowed in,
blowing horns and waving the blue and white flag of Vieques.
Some stole Navy vehicles, drove them to the gate and smashed
the lights and windows with sledgehammers.
For 60 years, the Navy has bombed the island for training
purposes. The Navy handed over 15,000 acres of land with no
fanfare, just a written statement.
Hundreds of activists who were jailed for trespassing to
stop the bombing are now preparing for their next battle:
reclaiming lands transferred yesterday to the Department of
Interior, which will transform the range into a wildlife refuge.
- Roberto Rabín, Head of the Committee for the Rescue
and Development of Vieques
- Rosa Clemente, New York based journalist who traveled
to Vieques to cover the celebration
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:45-8:50 To mark May Day, protests planned against oil companies,
weapons manufacturers and at government buildings: We go to
London for a reports on protests there.
Oil companies, weapons manufacturers and government buildings
are all being targeted by May Day protesters today.
British activists have distributed a hit list of what they
call 50 “companies of mass destruction.”
In Berlin, Police turned water cannons on thousands of demonstrators
and arrested around a hundred people. The AFP reports people
threw fireworks at the police.
In Istanbul, Turkish riot police arrested some 30 protestors.
Police said the protest was illegal.
In Moscow, thousands of Communists marched through the city
centre demanding the resignation of President Vladimir Putin's
government.
Thousands of Indonesians hit the streets calling for the
resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and demanding
jobs for the people.
- Andrew Burgin, activist in London speaking to us from
the May Day protests.
8:50-8:58 Could you go to jail for hosting a party or concert
where a guest uses drugs? ACLU warns of abuse of controversial
drug law snuck into Amber Alert legislation
President Bush signed the Amber Alert, a far-reaching child
protection legislation carrying a number of contentious provisions
including one that cracks down on illegal use of Ecstasy and
other drugs at nightclubs.
Critics in the music industry and the American Civil Liberties
Union say the law -- fast-tracked without public comment --
will have a chilling effect on rock concerts and other public
events, in addition to the rave shows targeted by lawmakers.
A provision of the new law was originally introduced as the
RAVE Act -- or Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy
Act -- that was aimed at "club drugs" like Ecstasy.
An earlier version of the bill targeting drugs found at raves,
concerts and other venues frequented by young people failed
to pass Congress last year after complaints that the bill
unfairly painted all raves and concerts as havens for illegal
drug use. The new bill takes out references thus expanding
the law to cover most public events.
- Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties
Union Drug Policy Litigation Project
8:53-8:58 Poet Jayne Cortez reads work at conference on women
& war
Poet and performance artist Jayne Cortez was born in 1936
in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Her books of poetry include Somewhere
in Advance of Nowhere (Serpent's Tail, 1997), Coagulations:
New and Selected Poems (1982), Poetic Magnetic (1991), Firespitter
(1982), Mouth on Paper (1977), Scarifications (1973), and
Pissstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares (1969). Her
work has been translated into twenty-eight languages.
Cortez has also released a number of recordings, many with
her band The Firespitters, including Taking the Blues Back
Home (1997), Cheerful & Optimistic (1994), Everywhere
Drums (1991), and Maintain Control (1986). In 1964, she founded
the Watts Repertory Company, and in 1972, she formed her own
publishing company, Bola Press. Her awards include fellowships
from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York
Foundation for the Arts, the International African Festival
Award, and the American Book Award. Jayne Cortez has performed,
lectured, and taught at many universities, museums, and festivals.
She read her poetry at a recent conference on women and war
in New York.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
Alice Walker, Kurt Vonnegut, Danny Glover, James Earl Jones
and others read from Howard Zinn's "A People's History
of the United States" Part two of two-hour special commemorating
the millionth copy of the classic book sold.
9:01-9:06 Headlines
9:08-9:09 One Minute Music Break
9:10-9:18 ALICE WALKER, KURT VONNEGUT, DANNY GLOVER, JAMES
EARL JONES AND OTHERS READ FROM HOWARD ZINN’S “A
PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES”: HOUR TWO
OF TWO-HOUR SPECIAL COMMEMORATING THE MILLIONTH COPY OF THE
CLASSIC BOOK SOLD.
It has become a classic work of history. It is used in countless
schools across the country, it has inspired a generation of
historians and students and it has reshaped how many people
view this country’s history.
We are talking about Howard Zinn’s “A People’s
History of the United States” first published 23 years
ago. The millionth copy of the book was recently sold.
To celebrate this feat a group of actors, writers and editors
recently gathered for a public reading of the book. The cast
included Alice Walker, Kurt Vonnegut, Danny Glover and James
Earl Jones.
Marisa Tomei reads Helen Keller.
Kurt Vonnegut reads Eugene Debs.
9:18-9:19 One Minute Music Break
9:20-9:43 A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES PT.
II
Kurt Vonnegut reads from Catch 22.
Harris Yulin and Andre Gregory read veteran Hollywood actor
Lionel Stander debating with the committee over charges of
being communist.
Alfre Woodard reads Fanny Lou Hamer.
James Earl Jones reads Malcolm X.
Danny Glover reads Martin Luther King.
Alice Walker reads Abbey Lincoln.
9:43-9:44 One Minute Music Break
9:45-9:58 A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES PT.
III
Marisa Tomei reads Ceser Chavez.
Jeff Zinn, Howard Zinn’s son, reads James Lawrence
Harrington’s letter of resignation from the military
during the Gulf War.
Alfre Woodard reads a letter of a mother who wrote about
welfare.
Mila Pitts reads a letter by Amber Amonson, her husband was
killed in the September 11th attack on the Pentagon.
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press
with help from Noah Reibel and Vilka Tzouras. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer. Thanks also to Uri Galed,
Angela Alston, Emily Kunstler, Orlando Richards, Simba Rousseau,
Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Karen
Ranucci, Fatima Mojadiddy, Denis Moynihan and Jenny Filipazzo.
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