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Over 150 Dead in Iraq in One of Deadliest Weekends Since
U.S. Invasion
Three Women, Palestinian Christian, Muslim and Israeli Jew
on Life Under Occupation
Over 150 Dead in Iraq in One of Deadliest Weekends
Since U.S. Invasion
This weekend marked one of the deadliest in Iraq since the
U.S. invasion began more than two years ago. In three days
of suicide attacks, more than 150 people have been killed
with nearly 300 wounded. We go to Baghdad to speak with Patrick
Cockburn of the London Independent. [includes rush
transcript]
Iraq is reeling from one of the bloodiest weekends since
the US occupation began over two years ago.
Three suicide bombers hit Baghdad on Sunday following a deadly
fuel truck bomb a day earlier that killed as many as 100 people.
At around 8:30pm on Saturday evening, a man detonated an
explosive belt in a crowded marketplace in the highway town
of Musayyib - 35 miles south of Baghdad. The explosion erupted
just as a tanker containing cooking gas was passing by. The
blast triggered an inferno that destroyed dozens of buildings,
including a nearby Shiite mosque where worshipers were emerging
from evening prayers. The death toll now stands at 100. Over
75 people were wounded in what is being called the second
deadliest bombing since the war began in 2003.
The attack prompted denunciations of the Iraqi authorities
in parliament and calls for local militia to take up arms.
On Sunday, four suicide bombs rocked Baghdad, killing at
least nine people. All four attacks occurred within a span
of four and a half hours. On Friday, no less that 11 suicide
bombers struck U.S. and Iraqi military targets in the capital
and on the highway to the south, killing more than 33 people
and wounding scores more. Three US soldiers were also killed
over the weekend.
Patrick Cockburn of the London Independent writes "It
is not just the number of the dead and injured that makes
the bombings in Baghdad so much worse than London. A single
incident of danger is easier to endure than relentless attack
and the knowledge that the bombers were here yesterday and
tomorrow they will return again."
- Patrick Cockburn, journalist with the London Independent.
He joins us on the line from Baghdad.
Three Women, Palestinian Christian, Muslim and Israeli
Jew on Life Under Occupation
As Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza
and Hamas says it will halt attacks, we speak with three women:
Dr. Jumana Odeh, a Muslim Palestinian who lives in Jerusalem
and is the Director of the Palestinian Happy Child Center;
Michal Sagi, a Jewish Israeli who is active with Checkpoint
Watch, a women's human rights monitoring group and Rana Khoury,
a Christian Palestinian who is Deputy General Director of
the International Center of Bethlehem.
A weekend of violence in Gaza threatened to topple a five-month-old
truce and derail plans for the August pullout of Jewish settlements
and soldiers. The Israeli military massed tanks on the edge
of Gaza yesterday in preparation for a possible ground offensive.
Hamas said today it will honor the truce, reserving the right
to "resistance and self defense." This follows a
pledge from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he will
do all he can to stop rocket and mortar attacks on Jewish
settlements.
Last Tuesday, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed four Israelis
in the town of Netanya. And Hamas has launched more than one
hundred rockets at Israeli targets in Gaza over the past several
days.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that despite the
truce there would be "no restriction on our activities
to halt the attacks at communities both inside and outside
the Gaza Strip."
The Israeli Defense Forces renewed their practice of targeting
individual Palestinian leaders. On Sunday an Israeli sniper
shot dead a local Hamas leader, Saeed Seyam outside his home.
And army personnel shot and killed a Palestinian man approaching
the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. On Friday, Israeli helicopter
gunships fired a missile at a mini-bus in Gaza City, killing
four Palestinians.
Well, we turn now to a conversation about the daily realities
of the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Three women peacemakers
- Christian, Muslim, and Jewish - traveled through out the
United States last month to share their experiences with American
audiences.
- Dr. Jumana Odeh, Muslim Palestinian lives in Jerusalem
and is the Director of the Palestinian Happy Child Center.
She supervises child health programs in the West Bank, Gaza
Strip, and Jerusalem.
- Michal Sagi, a Jewish Israeli who serves as the Executive
Director of SHILO - Jerusalem's Family Planning, Educational,
and Counseling Center. She is active with Checkpoint Watch,
a women's human rights monitoring group which reports on
its observations at Israeli military and police checkpoints
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
- Rana Khoury is Christian Palestinian and lives in Bethlehem.
She is Deputy General Director of the International
Center of Bethlehem, a Palestinian NGO. Her father died
in January of 2004 when he was denied passage at an Israeli
checkpoint on the way to the hospital because he did not
hold a "sickness permit" to attest to his massive
heart attack. Even his American passport was not able to
get him to a Jerusalem hospital.
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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