Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Wed., Aug. 17, 2005
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 8-17-05
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Israel Begins Forced Removal of Jewish Settlers From Gaza
as Deadline Expires
As Unarmed IDF Soldiers Evacuate Settlers, A Look at the
Israeli Bulldozing of the Palestinian Home that Killed Rachel
Corrie
Debate on Gaza Withdrawal: Palestinian Sociologist vs. the
Zionist Organization of America
Israel Begins Forced Removal of Jewish Settlers From
Gaza as Deadline Expires
Israeli troops began the forced evacuation of thousands
of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip Wednesday after a deadline
for them to leave expired last night. We go to Gaza to speak
with Chris McGreal, correspondent with the London Guardian,
who reports from the settlement of Neve Dekalim.
Israeli troops began the forced evacuation of thousands of
Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip Wednesday after a deadline
for them to leave expired last night.
Unarmed Israeli soldiers broke though burning barricades
and marched door to door ordering people out of their homes
in five settlements. The operation is the culmination of Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan from the
Gaza strip which has been occupied by Israel for nearly four
decades.
Troops and police grabbed settlers and pushed them into buses.
Scuffles broke out with a large crowd, as protesters burned
garbage, fought with police officers and threw eggs and water
bottles at them. One woman set herself on fire during an anti-pullout
protest in the Negev town of Netivot. She was seriously wounded.
Settlers in some farming communities were seen burning their
greenhouses and homes rather than leave them to the Palestinians.
One man took a sledgehammer to the walls of his home. Police
said Wednesday morning that in the last 24 hours they had
arrested 498 people, of whom 451 were released.
Police said one woman was arrested for stabbing and lightly
wounding a soldier. Soon after the incident, Sharon beseeched
settlers not to attack soldiers saying "Don't blame them.
Don't make it hard on them. Don't hurt them, hurt me."
Further confrontation looms as hundreds of Israeli troops
escorted by bulldozers marched into the Neve Dekalim settlement,
a focus of resistance where thousands have defied orders to
leave. IDF officials are reportedly hammering out a deal with
settlement leaders, whereby the settlers would leave by this
afternoon.
Government eviction notices went into effect on Monday but
settlers were given 48 hours to leave or be removed from all
21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank. Many
of Gaza's 8,500 settlers packed up trucks ahead of the Wednesday
deadline to quit Gaza. But the army estimated about half the
settler population would remain in defiance.
Officials say 66 percent of settler families have accepted
compensation deals. Those who refused to go could lose a third
of the money, ranging from $150,000 to $400,000 dollars per
family.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a senior aide
to Sharon said that all or nearly all of the 21 Gaza Strip
settlements could be evacuated within 48 hours, declaring
that the opposition to the disengagement has failed. The army
intends to pull out the last troops from Gaza in early October
and turn over the land to the Palestinian Authority.
- Chris McGreal, reporter for the London
Guardian. He joins us on the line from one of the settlements
in Gush Katif.
As Unarmed IDF Soldiers Evacuate Settlers, A Look
at the Israeli Bulldozing of the Palestinian Home that Killed
Rachel Corrie
As the Israeli pays millions of dollars to Gaza settlers
and prepares to demolish their homes after the evacuation,
we look back at another home demolition that came with no
compensation. American activist Rachel Corrie was crushed
by an Israeli military bulldozer as she tried to protect a
Palestinian home. We speak with the family that lived in that
home and Rachel Corrie's mother. [includes rush
transcript]
Two weeks ago, the Presbyterian Church warned four US companies
to stop providing military equipment and technology to Israel
for use in the occupation of the Palestinian territories,
or else face a vote by the Church to divest its stock in them.
A church investment committee accused Motorola, Caterpillar,
ITT Industries and United Technologies of selling helicopters,
cellphones, night vision equipment as well as other items
used by Israel in its forced occupation of Palestinian territory.
Other mainline Protestant churches have followed in the campaign
of the Presbyterian Church using corporate divestment as a
tactic in the Middle East conflict.
The Episcopal Church of U.S.A., the United Church of Christ,
two regions of the United Methodist Church, as well as international
groups like the World Council of Churches and the Anglican
Consultative Council have all urged similar economic boycotts
of Israel. One of the companies that is facing divestment
is Caterpillar. Last week, President Bush visited the company's
manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Illinois where he signed
the federal Transportation Equity Act.
For years, Caterpillar has been a target of activists because
of its sale of bulldozers to Israel that have been used to
demolish Palestinian homes. This campaign gained momentum
after the death of Rachel Corrie, the young American woman
who was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by an Israeli military
bulldozer as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian
home. In March 2005, Rachel's parents initiated lawsuits against
the State of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces and Caterpillar.
Subsequently, they haves been joined by Palestinian plaintiffs
in the suit against Caterpillar. This summer, members of the
Palestinian family who lived in the home Corrie was defending
came to the U.S. to travel with Corrie's parents Cindy and
Craig on a national speaking tour.
- Samah Nasrallah and Khaled Nasrallah, residents of Rafah.
American activist Rachel Corrie died defending their house
from an Israeli military bulldozer.
- Cindy Corrie, mother of Rachel Corrie
Debate on Gaza Withdrawal: Palestinian Sociologist
vs. the Zionist Organization of America
As Israeli troops began the forced evacuation of thousands
of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip, we host a debate between
Morton Klein, the head of the Zionist Organization of America
and Rabab Abdulhadi, the head of the Center for Arab American
Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
The latest news out of Gaza is that Israeli troops have begun
the forced evacuation of thousands of Jewish settlers from
the Gaza strip. This comes after a deadline for them to leave
expired last night. This operation is the culmination of Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan from the
Gaza strip. Israeli security forces say that in the last 24
hours they arrested 498 people. More than 450 of them were
released.
Government eviction notices went into effect on Monday but
settlers were given 48 hours to leave or be removed from all
21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank. Many
of Gaza's 8,500 settlers packed up trucks ahead of the Wednesday
deadline to quit Gaza. But the army estimated about half the
settler population would remain, in defiance of the order.
- Rabab Abdulhadi, Palestinian professor of Sociology at
the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She is the Director
of the University's Center
for Arab American Studies.
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.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
