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Democracy Now!
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From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 5-6-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
"It's clear that Islam is on the way to disappearing”:
the words of Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon, who is set
to lobby Christian fundamentalists close to President Bush
against the Middle East peace plan
U.S. hires Christian fundamentalists to produce news for
Iraqis: the studio runs a news service “dedicated to
transmitting the evidence of God's presence in the world today."
8:01-8:10 Headlines
8:10-8:11 One Minute Music Break
8:11-8:30 "IT'S CLEAR THAT ISLAM IS ON THE WAY TO DISAPPEARING”:
THE WORDS OF ISRAELI TOURISM MINISTER BENNY ELON, WHO IS SET
TO LOBBY CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS CLOSE TO PRESIDENT BUSH
AGAINST THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PLAN
Palestinian and Israeli extremists are doing everything they
can to sabotage the US-backed so-called “road map to
peace”.
Palestinian gunmen last night shot dead an Israeli settler
and wounded two others in the West Bank. The attack came just
hours after U.S. envoy William Burns met with recently installed
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Burns
told Abbas and other senior Palestinian official they must
make every effort to stop attacks on Israelis. Burns said
this is necessary to ensure progress on the US-backed so-called
“road map” to peace.
Meanwhile, Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon has arrived
in the U.S. to lobby Congress and Christian fundamentalists
against the US-backed ‘roadmap.’ Elon is scheduled
to hold a news conference tomorrow in which he will present
a plan of his own. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reports
Elon’s plan will call for the establishment of a Palestinian
state – but not in the Occupied Territories. He will
say the Palestinians should establish their country in Jordan.
Elon said in a statement: "Our stay in Judea and Samaria
is not temporary." Judea and Samaria are ancient Jewish
names for the occupied West Bank.
Elon is planning to lobby prominent Christian fundamentalists
close to President Bush. An Israeli government spokesman told
the AFP these religious leaders include Christian Coalition
President Roberta Combs, former presidential candidate Gary
Bauer and Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting
Network, who once said that "God gave the land to the
descendants of Israel. It was not given to Palestine."
The Ha’aretz reports Alon said: "It's clear that
Islam is on the way to disappearing. What we are now seeing
across the Muslim world is not a powerful surge of faith but
the dying embers of Islam. How will it disappear? Very simply.
Within a few years a Christian crusade against Islam will
be launched, which will be the major event of this millennium.
Obviously, we will be up against quite a large problem when
only the two great religions of Judaism and Christianity remain,
but that's still a long way off."
- Daniel Ben Simon, journalist with the Israeli newspaper
Ha’aretz
- Elaine Hagopian, professor emeritus of Sociology at Simmons
College in Boston. Host on Arabic Community Television in
Boston. Syrian Arab/Armenian background.
- John Grebe, producer of Boston College radio show, "Sounds
of Dissent" (WZBC 90.3 FM in Boston, Saturdays at noon)
and author of "Rev. Pat Robertson in the Temple: Channeling
the Word to the Infidels," published on CounterPunch.org
Link: "Rev. Pat Robertson in the Temple: Channeling
the Word to the Infidels" at: counterpunch.org/grebe04242003.html
- Marty Federman, arrested at Temple Beth Shalom in Framingham,
MA at a Pat Robertson event, currently a Jewish educator,
co-chair of Visions for Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine"
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:30 CONT’D
8:30-8:40 U.S. hires Christian fundamentalists to produce
news for Iraqis
The U.S. government last week launched its Arabic language
satellite TV news station for Iraq.
Iraq is overwhelmingly a Muslim country. But according to
independent journalist Russell Mokhiber, Iraq’s newest
TV station is being produced by Grace Digital Media, a studio
which is controlled by fundamentalist Christians.
Grace Digital Media also runs Grace News Network which claims
to be QUOTE "dedicated to transmitting the evidence of
God's presence in the world today."
The U.S. agency the Broadcasting Board of Governors has defended
the selection of Grace Digital. They say its fundamentalist
Christian, pro-Israeli leadership will have nothing to do
with the editorial side of the news broadcast in Iraq.
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:58 United For Peace & Justice organizer Leslie
Cagan speaks on the state of the anti-war movement after the
invasion of Iraq
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
Anti-Apartheid leader Walter Sisulu dies at the age of 90:
Speaker of the South African National Assembly Frene Ginwala
talks about the man who worked quietly behind the scenes as
Nelson Mandela became the public face of the mass liberation
movement
“The Bookie of Virtue”: Moral crusader and former
drug czar Bill Bennett made millions lecturing people on morality—and
blew $8 million on high stakes gambling
Inside the secret hearings of Joseph McCarthy: Newly released
documents shed light on the questioning of Aaron Copland,
Langston Hughes and others
9:01-9:10 Headlines
9:10-9:11 One Minute Music Break
9:11-9:20 ANTI-APARTHEID LEADER WALTER SISULU DIES AT THE
AGE OF 90: SPEAKER OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FRENE GINWALA TALKS ABOUT THE MAN WHO WORKED QUIETLY BEHIND
THE SCENES AS NELSON MANDELA BECAME THE PUBLIC FACE OF THE
MASS LIBERATION MOVEMENT
One of the leaders of the movement against apartheid in South
Africa has died.
Walter Sisulu passed away last night. He died two weeks before
his 91st birthday.
He spent a quarter of a century in prison for his organizing
against the apartheid regime.
Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu was born in the Eastern Cape. His
mother Alice Sisulu was a black domestic worker and his father
Victor Dickenson was a white assistant magistrate.
The first time Walter Sisulu ever saw a train was when he
rode one that took rural recruits to work at the Rose Deep
Mine. Sisulu also worked as a domestic worker, paint mixer,
advertising agent, and newspaper columnist.
Sisulu’s family was forcibly removed from their home
in Doornfontein to the new Orlando township in 1934. (Hundreds
of thousands of black South Africans were forcibly removed
from their homes and forced into teeming ‘townships’
during the apartheid era.)
In 1944, Sisulu, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo founded
the African National Congress Youth League. The Youth League
revolutionized the ANC, transforming it from a minor political
party into a mass-based liberation movement.
Sisulu was the organizing genius behind the ANC's major political
protests in the 1950s, [according to the South African Broadcasting
Corporation].
He eventually entered the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto
we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. He was arrested six times
in 1962 and after going underground a year later was finally
arrested in July 1963. The white apartheid regime sentenced
Susulu to life in prison for plotting sabotage and revolution.
He was imprisoned on Robben Island with his close friend Nelson
Mandela for a quarter of a century.
Walter Sisulu was released in 1989 at the age of 77 as the
mass popular movement forced the apartheid regime to begin
negotiating a transfer of power.
He immediately resumed his organizing. He was elected deputy
president of the African National Congress in 1991 and was
part of the ANC team that negotiated with the ruling National
Party.
South Africa's first democratic election was held in April
1994.
Mandela said recently,
"Sisulu stands head and shoulders above all of us in
South Africa… You will ask what is the reason for his
elevated status among us. Very simple, it is humility. It
is simplicity. Because he pushed all of us forward and remained
quietly in the background."
Nelson Mandela said in a statement:
"His absence has carved a void. A part of me is gone…
Together we shared ideas, forged common commitments…
We walked side by side through the valley of death, nursing
each other's bruises, holding each other up when our steps
faltered. Together we savoured the taste of freedom.”
- Dr. Frene Ginwala, Speaker of the South African National
Assembly, Co-chair of the Global Coalition on Africa, member
of the ANC National Executive. Frene Ginwala is a long-time
activist for the African National Congress and for women's
rights. In 1960, she left South Africa to arrange the escape
of the late Oliver Tambo, the president of the ANC, and
to help establish the ANC office in exile. Ginwala became
Head of the Political Research Unit in the office of President
Tambo and was known for her research on South Africa's nuclear
program, sanctions, and the arms and oil embargo. She also
lectured at universities and institutions in various countries
and participated in UN, UNESCO and other international conferences.
When the ANC was unbanned, Dr. Ginwala returned to South
Africa after more than 30 years in exile. There she helped
to found the Women's National Coalition, and became its
first convener. She also served as the deputy head of the
ANC Commission for the Emancipation of Women, the ANC Representative
on the Science and Technology Initiative, and headed the
ANC's Research Department. She was on the ANC negotiating
team during the transition to a democratic South Africa.
She entered Parliament in 1994 and was elected Speaker of
South Africa's first democratically elected National Assembly.
9:21-9:30 Sisulu, cont’d
9:30-9:45 THE BOOKIE OF VIRTUE”: MORAL CRUSADER AND
FORMER DRUG CZAR BILL BENNETT MADE MILLIONS LECTURING PEOPLE
ON MORALITY—AND BLEW $8 MILLION ON HIGH STAKES GAMBLING
He served as Secretary of Education and Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities under President Ronald Reagan.
He was Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
under President George H.W. Bush.
He is the co-chair of the National Commission on Civic Renewal
and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. And he is the
author and editor of 14 books, including the best selling
book “The Book of Virtues”. His most recent project
is Americans for Victory Over Terrorism and he has recently
written a new book called “Why We Fight: Moral Clarity
and the War on Terrorism”.
He is William Bennett and he plays low-stakes poker with
a group of prominent conservatives, including Robert Bork,
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Chief Justice William
Rehnquist.
In his famous Book of Virtues, he writes: "We should
know that too much of anything, even a good thing, may prove
to be our undoing...[We] need ... to set definite boundaries
on our appetites."
But according reports in two magazines last week, William
Bennett is a high stakes gambler. He has lost more than $8
million in casinos from Atlantic City to Las Vegas.
The article in the Washington Monthly is headlined: “Bookie
of Virtues”; the headline in Newsweek asks a question:
“Virtue Is as Virtue Does?". Those breaking stories
generated further unflattering headlines around the world.
The Ottawa Citizen reports: “Anti-Drug Crusader Can’t
Say No to Gambling” and the Guardian of London blares:
“Voice of morality exposed as chronic casino loser.”
In a statement released yesterday, William Bennett said:
“A number of stories in the media have reported that
I have engaged in high-stakes gambling over the past decade.
It is true that I have gambled large sums of money. I have
also complied with all laws on reporting wins and losses.
Nevertheless, I have done too much gambling, and this is not
an example I wish to set. Therefore,, my gambling days are
over.”
- Rev. Tom Grey, Executive Director of National Coalition
Against Gambling Expansion based in Rockford, Illinois
Links: www.ncalg.org
9:45-9:46 One-Minute Music Break
9:46-9:58 INSIDE THE SECRET HEARINGS OF JOSEPH MCCARTHY:
NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENTS SHED LIGHT ON THE QUESTIONING OF
AARON COPLAND, LANGSTON HUGHES AND OTHERS
Sen. Joseph McCarthy used closed-door secret sessions to
winnow out witnesses who might have challenged him in the
sensational anti-communism hearings 50 years ago.
Newly released transcripts indicate that of the 500 witnesses
who testified in private, one-third were never called back
to testify in public.
Among those who testified in private were the composer Aaron
Copland, poet Langston Hughes and mystery writer Dashiell
Hammett. Copland fiercely defended himself saying “I
have not been a Communist in the past and I am not now a Communist."
Hughes protested that he had not read much about Marxism "beyond
the introduction of the Communist Manifesto." Hammett
invoked the Fifth Amendment.
McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican, led the Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations in 1953 and 1954 at the height
of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
His investigation into Communists in the U.S. government
was widely seen as a witch-hunt and spawned the term ''McCarthyism''
to describe smear attacks.
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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