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"Opening the Gates of Hell" - Israel Assassinates
Hamas Leader Yassin
Millions Across the World Protest On Anniversary of Iraq
War
The Peace Candidate: Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race
Antiwar Voices: Father of Soldier Killed in Iraq and Aunt
of War Resistor Speak Out Against Iraq Invasion
U.S.-Backed Right Wing Candidate Wins in El Salvador
"Opening the Gates of Hell" - Israel Assassinates
Hamas Leader Yassin
Israeli forces assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual
leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, as he was returning
from a mosque in Gaza City. Tens of thousands of Palestinians
took to the streets in response. We go to Palestine and Israel
to hear from Dr. Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian National
Initiative and Neve Gordon of Ben Gurion University.
Israeli forces have assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin the spiritual
leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, as he was returning
from a Mosque in Gaza City. It is being called the most high-profile
assassination Israel has carried out since the start of the
second intifada. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have taken
to the streets. The Palestinian Authority declared three days
of mourning and a general strike has been called. The Hamas
leadership said Sharon had, "opened the gates of hell"
and the group vowed all-out war. Yasin founded Hamas in 1987.
He has been the target of several other assassination attempts
in the past. Israeli radio reported that Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon personally ordered the killing. Israel has blamed him
for being behind dozens of suicide bomb attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking to reporters,
defended the killing of Yassin by calling him "the Palestinian
bin Laden" and said his hands were covered in Israeli
blood.
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that with the act
"Israel made clear again that terror has no immunity
and that it will strike against its activists, its deputies,
its leaders anywhere they are.
Palestinian Authority officials condemned the assassination.
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said, "This is a crazy and
very dangerous act. It opens the door wide to chaos. Yassin
is known for his moderation and he was controlling Hamas and
therefore this is a dangerous, cowardly act," The Associated
Press reported receiving a fax from Hamas that read: "The
Zionists didn't carry out their operation without getting
the consent of the terrorist American Administration, and
it must take responsibility for this crime." Haaretz
newspaper is saying that this may indicate that Hamas could
for the first time seek to strike at non-Israeli targets.
- Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian
National Initiative, President of the Palestinian Medical
Relief Committee.
- Neve Gordon, Professor at Ben Gurion University.
Millions Across the World Protest On Anniversary
of Iraq War
From Sydney to San Francisco, Tokyo to Santiago, New York,
Madrid, London and Rome, millions take to the streets to mark
the first anniversary of the Iraq war. We hear the sounds
and voices from cities across the globe.
Millions of protesters poured into the streets of cities
around the globe this weekend to mark the first anniversary
of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
From Sydney to San Francisco, Tokyo to Santiago, Madrid,
London, New York and Rome, demonstrators took to the streets.
At least a million people streamed through Rome, in probably
the single largest protest in the world. In London, two protesters
evaded security to climb the landmark Big Ben clock tower
at the Houses of Parliament, unfurling a banner reading "Time
for Truth." In Vermont, hundreds of silent protesters
placed a pair of shoes on the Statehouse steps for each of
the more than 560 U.S. soldiers killed in the war. In Fort
Bragg, hundreds of family members and veterans groups gathered
outside one of the biggest military bases in the country.
We'll speak with a father who lost his son nearly a year
ago in Iraq. But first we hear some of the sounds and voices
of the protests around the world. We begin in Spain.
Of the roughly 250 anti-war protests scheduled around the
United States, New York's crowd was the largest with organizers
estimating up to 100,000 people taking to the streets in midtown
Manhattan.
In addition to Iraq, speakers talked about the Israeli occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza.
- Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim American
Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation, and the President of the
Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO).
The Peace Candidate: Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race
Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich explains
why is staying in the race for his party's nomination. He
talks about the continuing war in Iraq, the 9-11 commission
and Israel's assasination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin in Gaza.
Only one presidential candidate attended one of the mass
protests marking the one-year anniversary of the beginning
of the US invasion of Iraq. It wasn't George W Bush and it
wasn't John Kerry. It was Ohio Congressmember Dennis Kucinich.
He addressed more than 100, 000 people at the large protest
in New York City on Saturday.
This weekend Kucinich issued a statement saying that he will
not drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination. Kucinich
said he is committed to ensuring that a peace platform is
adopted by the Democrats ahead of November's elections.
This Thursday, the Democratic National Committee is holding
a "Unity Dinner" honoring John Kerry. Former presidents
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton will be in attendance, as will
all of the Democratic presidential candidates who were once
competing against Kerry. All of them, that is, except Kucinich.
A DNC official said Kucinich was not invited because, in the
words of the official, Kucinich is not preaching party unity
and is continuing his campaign. Kucinich responded to this
non-invite by saying he is preaching unity on issues of peace,
social justice and equal rights.
Antiwar Voices: Father of Soldier Killed in Iraq
and Aunt of War Resistor Speak Out Against Iraq Invasion
We speak with Fernando Suarez, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl
Jesus Suarez, was one of the first U.S. soldiers killed in
Iraq on March 27, 2003 and we hear a speech by Staff Sergeant
Camilo Mejia's aunt Norma Castillo speaking at a demonstration
at Fort Bragg this weekend. Mejia surrendered to U.S. military
police last week after being on the run for five months for
refusing to go back to Iraq to fight.
One year into the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, more
than 570 American soldiers have been killed with many thousands
more wounded.
Marine Lance Cpl Jesus Suarez was one of the first U.S. servicemen
killed in the war on March 27, 2003. His father, Fernando
Suarez del Solar has become a leading antiwar voice and was
one of the speakers in the antiwar demonstrations in New York
City this weekend.
- Fernando Suarez del Solar, father of Marine Lance Cpl
Jesus Suarez who was killed in Iraq on March 27, 2003.
- Norma Castillo, aunt of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia speaking
in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Mejia surrendered to U.S.
military police after being on the run for five months for
refusing to go back to Iraq to fight.
U.S.-Backed Right Wing Candidate Wins in El Salvador
U.S.-backed candidate Tony Saca won this weekend's national
elections in El Salvador, beating former guerilla leader Schafik
Handal. We go to San Salvador for a report.
In El Salvador the U.S.-backed right-wing candidate Tony
Saca easily won in national elections on Sunday beating former
guerilla leader Schafik Handal. The Bush administration was
accused by some as meddling in the election by publicly backing
Saca.
A week ago, White House Special Assistant Otto Reich gave
a phone press conference at the headquarters of the right-wing
party. He told Salvadorean reporters he was worried what kind
of impact a victory by the left could have on the country’s
"economic, commercial, and migratory relations with the
United States."
Last month Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noreiga told
voters to "consider what kind of a relationship they
want a new administration to have with us."
This prompted 28 members of Congress to send a letter to
Secretary of State Colin Powell warning that Noriega’s
remarks were perceived as "interference in Salvadoran
electoral affairs."
One of the signees of the letter Dennis Kucinich said, "Unfortunately,
what is going on in El Salvador is representative of a Latin
American policy that is not about promoting healthy democracies,
but instead focused on making Latin American nations bend
to U.S. commercial interests."
- Norman Stockwell, of WORT-FM
Community Radio Madison, WI speaking from San Salvador,
El Salvador.
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 Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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