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Sharon Aide Says U.S.-Backed Settlement Policy Designed to Freeze
Peace Process
"Imposing Imperial Democracy" - Upcoming Afghan
Elections Marked by U.S. Pressure, Fraud and Corruption
Kenyan Environmentalist Wangari Maathai Wins Nobel Peace
Prize
Censored: Public Fla. School Cancels Campus Speaker Fearing
She Would Criticize Bush
Calls Increase for DeLay to Resign After Ethics Committee
Again Admonishes Majority Leader
Sharon Aide Says U.S.-Backed Settlement Policy Designed
to Freeze Peace Process
As three back-to-back Sinai bombings kill dozens in a resort
on the Egyptian-Israeli border we speak with leading Middle
East experts Tanya Reinhart and Naseer Aruri about the attack,
the recent Israeli offensive in Gaza and the collapse of the
"peace process." [includes rush
transcript]
Three back-to-back bombings yesterday rocked Egyptian resorts
where Israelis were vacationing during Jewish holidays, killing
at least 22 people and wounding more than 120 others. Some
estimates put the death toll over 30.
The most powerful explosion ripped through the 400-room Hilton
Hotel at Taba, a Red Sea resort just across Egypt's border
with Israel.
Israeli police sources said the blast was the work of a truck
bomb that crashed into the hotel lobby. A possible second
blast was believed triggered by a suicide bomber around the
pool area. At least 39 people are missing in the rubble and
officials fear the death toll will rise. Most of the casualties
appear to be Egyptians and Israelis.
About two hours after the attack, two other bombs went off
in nearby camping areas in Ras al Sultan and the village of
Tarabeen near Nuweibi killing at least 2 and wounding 43 others.
The only claim of responsibility came from a previously unheard
of group: the Islamic Tawhid Brigades. Israel's Deputy Defense
Minister said the attacks bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda.
Israeli security agencies had warned travelers against visiting
Egyptian resorts on the Red Sea following warnings of a possible
attack. The Israeli-built Taba Hilton was the scene of failed
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in January 2001. Thousands
of Israelis returned home from Sinai all night Thursday. At
the time of the attacks, there were approximately 15,000 Israelis
in Sinai.
Meanwhile, an Israeli missile strike killed two Palestinian
teenagers in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza strip yesterday.
The teenagers were playing with a tube and a gasoline-filled
bottle in imitation of militants firing rockets at Israel.
They were the latest youths to die in the Israeli campaign
in northern Gaza labeled "Operation Days of Penitence"
which has left more than 80 Palestinians dead. The past week
has marked one of the deadliest periods for Palestinians since
the Intifada began four years ago.
The latest deaths come a day after Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's chief aide publicly claimed that Israel's plan
to withdraw settlers from the Gaza strip while expanding settlements
on the West Bank was designed to freeze the peace process
and permanently prevent the establishment of a Palestinian
state.
The aide, Dov Weisglass, said "When you freeze that
process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,
and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders
and Jerusalem." Weisglass also said the White House backs
this new policy.
The remarks caused a political storm in Israel forcing Sharon
to claimed he still backs the U.S.-led road map which calls
for a Palestinian state.
- Tanya Reinhart, professor of linguistics and cultural
studies at Tel Aviv University and at the University of
Utrecht. She is the author of "Israel/ Palestine: How
to End the War of 1948" (Seven Stories) and is a columnist
at Israel's largest daily, Yediot Aharonot.
- Naseer Aruri, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
at the University of Massachusetts. He is author of the
book "Dishonest broker: America's Role in Israel and
Palestine" (South End)
- Chris McGreal, reporter for the London Guardian.
"Imposing Imperial Democracy" - Upcoming
Afghan Elections Marked by U.S. Pressure, Fraud and Corruption
As the Bush administration the upcoming presidential election
in Afghanistan as a success in democracy, the elections are
coming under criticism for widespread fraud, confusion and
pressure from the U.S. to support incumbent Hamid Karzai.
We speak with KPFK radio host Sonali Kolhatkar and we go to
Kabul to speak Christian Parenti of The Nation. [includes
rush
transcript]
A bomb has exploded near the US military compound in Kabul,
Afghanistan a day ahead of the country's first presidential
election. There are no reports of any deaths or injuries from
the bombing. But US military officials and the current Afghan
government say they are bracing for efforts to disrupt tomorrow's
vote. More than 10 million Afghans have registered and there
are some 5,700 election observers deployed throughout the
country.
The country's interim president Hamid Karzai is the frontrunner
among 18 candidates. Only two other candidates are considered
big names nationwide: the Uzbek warlord General Rashid Dostum,
and the former education minister, Yunus Qanuni. One female
candidate, Massouda Jalal, is making history by being the
first woman to run for president. The vote has already been
delayed twice by violence. Karzai survived an attack last
month, and on Wednesday, a convoy carrying his running mate
was hit.
- Christian Parenti, correspondent for the Nation Magazine
speaking to us from Kabul. His latest article is titled
"What
'Democracy' Looks Like".
- Sonali Kolhatkar, host of the popular Pacifica Radio
Show, Uprising on KPFK.
She is also Vice President of the Afghan Women"s Mission,
a group that works in solidarity with Afghans to help improve
health and educational facilities for Afghan refugees in
Pakistan.
Kenyan Environmentalist Wangari Maathai Wins Nobel
Peace Prize
Kenyan environmentalist and zoology professor Wangari Maathai
bcame the first woman from Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize
Friday. We hear Wangari Maathai speaking earlier about the
violence she faces in Kenya and we speak with her colleague
Terry Tempest Williams. [includes rush
transcript]
Today the Chair of the Nobel Prize Committee announced this
year's winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Ole Danbolt Mjoes, Chair of the Nobel Prize Committee
speaking in Oslo, Norway on October 8, 2004.
Chair of the Nobel Prize Committee announcing Wangari Maathai
as the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She is an environmentalist
and zoology professor from Kenya and the first woman from
Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She is 63 years old.
Wangari Maathai rose to international fame for campaigns
against government-backed forest clearances in Kenya in the
late 1980s and 1990s.
She once said of the forest clearances "It's a matter
of life and death for this country. The Kenyan forests are
facing extinction and it is a man-made problem."
In 1992 riot police clubbed her and three other women unconscious
in central Nairobi during a demonstration. She has been tear
gassed, threatened with death by anonymous callers, and once
thrown into jail overnight for leading protests.
- Wangari Maathai, speaking about the violence she faces
in Kenya.
- Terry Tempest Williams, author, environmental activist
and professor of Environmental Studies at the University
of Utah. Her newest book is "The Open Space of Democracy"
Censored: Public Fla. School Cancels Campus Speaker
Fearing She Would Criticize Bush
We speak with author, environmental activist and Professor
Terry Tempest Williams about how a public university in Florida
cancelled, postponed her speech set for this month because
they feared she would criticize Bush for his environmental
policies. [includes rush
transcript]
- Terry Tempest Williams, author, environmental activist
and professor of Environmental Studies at the University
of Utah. Her newest book is "The Open Space of Democracy".
Calls Increase for DeLay to Resign After Ethics Committee
Again Admonishes Majority Leader
Congressional Democrats and government watch groups are
stepping up their calls for House Majority leader Tom DeLay
(R-TX) to resign his post as House Majority Leader after House
ethics Committee admonished him for failing to carry out his
duties in a forthright and ethical manner. We speak with Lou
Dubose, author of a new political biography on Tom Delay called
The Hammer.[includes rush
transcript]
Congressional Democrats and government watch groups are stepping
up their calls for House Majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas
to resign his post as House Majority Leader. On Wednesday,
the bi-partisan House ethics Committee admonished the powerful
Republican lawmaker for failing to carry out his duties in
a forthright and ethical manner. It was the committee's second
admonishment of DeLay in a week. Several other ethics complaints
against DeLay are still pending before the ethics committee,
the Department of Justice, the Federal Election Commission
and an Austin, Texas, grand jury.
Still, House Republicans say that the powerful legislator
known as the Hammer is in no danger of losing his position
and remains likely to succeed House Speaker Dennis Hastert
as Speaker of the House. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
of California said at a news conference "the burden falls
on his fellow House Republicans. Republicans must answer:
Do they want an ethically unfit person to be their majority
leader, or do they want to remove the ethical cloud that hangs
over the Capitol?"
This week's action by the ethics committee focused on DeLay's
use of the Federal Aviation Administration to track down Texas
Democratic lawmakers who had fled the state during a redistricting
fight and for appearing to give contributors special access
on pending energy legislation. In the redistricting scandal,
DeLay engineered a bitterly contested mid-decade redistricting
of Texas congressional seats that Republicans hope can translate
into a gain of as many as seven additional seats for the party
on Election Day. Last week, the ethics panel admonished DeLay
for pressuring Michigan Republican Nick Smith to vote for
the Medicare prescription-drug bill. The committee said DeLay
offered to endorse Smith's son in a congressional primary
in exchange for Smith's vote.
- Lou Dubose, author of a new political biography on Tom
Delay called "The Hammer: Tom Delay, God, Money and
the United States Congress." Dubose is the former editor
of the Texas Observer for 11 years and co-author, with Molly
Ivins of "Bushwhacked" and "Shrub".
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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