Flashpoints Radio Friday April 19 : Indybay

KPFA Flashpoints Radio
Friday, April 19, 2001 - Start Audio

-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction:
-02:00 Dennis: Amnesty International delegate:

this is one of the worst scenes of devastation I have ever seen.. a real possibility of people still alive underground.. it is shocking that the international community is not helping.. a colleague received a phone call from a family of ten trapped underground.. no co-ordinated search for survivors.. a shocking wake up call..
-02:40 Dennis: now to Jenin w Justin Hubbler, reporter with the London Independent..

Justin: I was in the center of Jenin Camp today.. whole area reduced to rubble.. It's a staggering sight.. Dennis: Israeli military says maybe 75 people killed.. Bush congratulates Sharon.. Justin: serious atrocities committed.. a lot of civilians that were killed.. army refused ambulances access to treat the wounded.. a violation of the Geneva Convention.. we found one old man just sitting watching a bulldozer, his nephew, physically and mentally disabled, was inside, he rushed up to the bulldozer, but it wouldn't stop,.. the body came out yesterday in pieces.. they brought a stretcher but no point, no body, really.. they wrapped the remains in a blanket and took it away.. some people burying the bodies, others searching, sifting through the rubble by hand.. much more thourough distruction.. everything pulverized.. systematic destruction of the buildings.. Dennis: anyone still alive?.. Justin: I haven't seen it, such a long time, it would be difficult.. I came in yesterday, sneaked into the back.. to the Red Cross.. and various official organizations.. Dennis: can Palestinians return to the camp?.. Justin: today they have been.. for the first time.. reports of people trying to get here, shot by Israeli soldiers.. the case that the Israelis are trying to present.. an investigation is essential.. Dennis: about Jenin City?.. the mood there?.. new refugee camps?.. Justin: people are in a lot of shock.. extremely angry.. shouting and angry.. the green flag of Hamas planted in the rubble.. they want to take revenge..
-14:00 Dennis: now w International Solidarity Movement member Kristen Shurr..

Kristen: two days ago we got into Nablus.. we tryed to deliver a little bit of aid to a nearby refugee camp.. told we would be shot.. delivered the aid to Balata Camp instead.. then tried to return to the Palestinian Medical Center.. detained by soldiers.. we were 30 internationals and 6 Palestinian medical workers.. the soldiers charged the crowd, started brutalizing all of us.. (indymedia story).. to get to the Palestinians.. I was on the phone with a lawyer.. my phones thrown to the ground.. my fingers twisted back.. we tried to protect the Palestinians.. a French boy stomped in the face by an Israeli boot.. the two Palestinians girls sobbing.. soldiers exposed all our film, broke our phones.. we were able to get the Palestinians back.. the soldiers told us we were unwelcome.. to leave Nablus and never return..
-19:00 Dennis: now w Dick

Becker of the International Action Center.. Dick: Bush called Sharon a man of peace.. tells us more about Bush than Sharon.. Jenin a continuation of a policy of Sharon's for years.. a new Deir Yassin.. Sharon's intention: massive destruction, to force the remaining Palestinians to leave the West Bank.. the level of destruction in Jenin.. no doubt what the intention is.. a photo of Israelis paratroopers leaving Jenin.. smiling, victorous.. this is Sharon's unit.. a history of genocide.. doing it with US weaponry.. $320,000 per hour of US taxpayer's money.. Dennis: now they are in Gaza.. 15 Palestinians killed there.. an 8-year old body killed in Ramallah.. Dick: this is an US/Israeli operation, phase two of the US led 'War on Terror'.. we should look at the objective of the Powell trip: pacification of the Arab states.. while the Palestinians got less than nothing.. this is the most outrageous situation.. we hope people come out in great numbers tomorrow.. to Delores Park in San Francisco.. if we don't intervene, no hope of turning this around.. and what is coming down the line, far worse.. EVENT: gathering at 11PM at Delores Park.. noon, march to the SF Civic Center.. Rally there at 1PM.. 40 buses coming from outside SF.. we are anticipating a crowd of 10,000 at least.. info call 415-821-6545, or see the International Action Center at www.actionsfbay.org Rally speakers include: Richard Mead (doctors union local 10); Barbara Lubin; Osama Qasem; Gloria Uribe; Dennis Bernstein.. April 20th we hope will be a kind of breakthrough.. And on April 30th Bush speaking in FOster City, we will be there.. April 28th a forum 5pm on Palestine.. Fein$tein has been vicious on this.. when you see top US officials defending the Sharon government.. you know this is a bankrupt group, their humanity is in question.. WE CAN'T RELY ON THEM, WE CAN ONLY RELY ON OUR OWN POWER
-32:00 Dennis: a worldwide call for a boycott on US/Israeli goods..

now w Professor As'ad AbuKhalil: striking that only in this country, the citizenry side with Israel.. everywhere else in the world, the reverse.. a story unreported in the US media.. tremendous pressure on governments.. protests in countries where protests are outlawed: Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan.. Saudi Arabia has arrested a number of people.. today the highest Islamic cleric in Lebanon, called for a strict boycott of American products.. MacDonalds in Egypt had to change its name to "Man's Food".. Dennis: about a US media story on MacDonalds in Egypt.. As'ad AbuKhalil: in Lebanon, MacDonalds has bought half page ads, because they are suffering from the boycott.. the US could have taken a different course.. Powell's trip intended to let Israel get away with their assault.. Dennis: inside Arafats's compound, people screaming in pain, lack of food, water.. then Powell visited.. ignored the suffering.. the internationals shouted for him to go visit Jenin.. As'ad: he couldn't go there, he would have seen the Palestinians as victims.. the US/Israeli propaganda machine always portrays the Israels, armed with F16s and Apache helicopters as the victims, the Palestinians armd with stones, old rifles, and primitive explosives are portrayed as the terrorizers.. the principle of Jewish supremacy.. explains why there is a far greater reaction to the killing of Palestinians than Israelis.. about housing in Hebron.. Gore Vidal says eventually this will come back to haunt the US.. "GWB will be remembered as someone who made a big mistake.." when the people in one of the most tightly controled regimes in the world, Bahrain, burn US flags, all bets are off.. all this dismissed by the US media.. about the repressed populations of the oil producing states.. Dennis: even the Israelis wouldn't refer to Ariel Sharon as a 'man of peace'.. As'ad: 2/3 of Israelis support what Sharon is doing to the Palestinians.. Bush's statment probably drew guffaws in the settlements.. they don't want peace, they want war, and the bigger and bloodier the better.. a myth that Barak offered Palestinians 97% of the West Bank.. other facts set aside: Sharon's ugly little visit to the Dome of the Rock.. Shamir was assassinated by an Israeli.. we should abhor fundamentalists of any stripe.. I was watching a program today, on the boycott of American products.. stop smoking American cigarettes.. a consistent call throughout the Middle East.. about the silly dispatches you hear on NPR.. their 'expert' commentators they have no idea what is going on in these Middle East countries.. Dennis: are we closer to Palestinian statehood, or back to 1948?.. As'ad: I think the worst is yet to come.. although I see an unwavering determination on the behalf of the Palestinians.. but I fear a very high price, for civilians on both sides..
-47:50 Dennis: now w

Jeff Mackler, of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu Jamal.. Event: A benefit this Saturday, 7:30 PM with Howard Zinn and Alice Walker at St Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison at Jefferson, one block south of University and Jefferson, Berkeley.. Jeff: eyewitness Cynthia White said.. on the pain of being put away, she was forced to say she saw Mumia shoot Officer Faulkner.. the only other supposed eyewitness also told us he also lied.. our case is before the US Court of Appeals.. we are fighting on the legal end with all the weapons we have.. Paris granted Mumia honorary citizenship.. about other acolades for Mumia..
-56:35 End today's show.. today's review by john lionheart Thursday, April 18, 2002
- KPFA All Day Special on the Middle East
Start 10AM-11AM Audio

-10:00 AM Hatem Bazian and Dennis Bernstein: today all-day special broadcasts on the Israeli assault on the West Bank..
-10:xx Neta Golan from inside Arafat's compound
-10:30 interview w Doctor in Jenin
-10:40 Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness
-10:5x Kristin Shurr beaten in Nablus, interview by Hatem Bazian.. Kristin: "an unbelievable scene, the sickest joke"
-10:59 AM End this segment.. this review by john lionheart Start 11AM-Noon Audio

-11:00 AM co-host Hatem Bazian is from Nablus.. co-host Dennis reads excerpts from an *interview* w an Israeli "Officer Z" by Jewish journalist, Amos Oz, and first published in the popular Israeli newspaper, Davar (now-defunct) in Dec 1982 (many people believe General Sharon was the source for Oz's 'Officer Z', but that has not been comfirmed) - see: our correction) and (Minnapolis Star Tribune): ""You can call me anything you like. Call me a monster or a murderer... Better a live Judeo-Nazi than a dead saint... Even if you prove to me that the present war in Lebanon is a dirty immoral war, I don't care... We shall start another war, kill and destroy more and more, until they will have had enough... Let them tremble, let them call us a mad state. Let them understand that we are a wild country, dangerous to our surroundings, not normal, that we might go crazy if one of our children is murdered, just one! If anyone even raises his hand against us we'll take away half his land and burn the other half, including the oil. We might use nuclear arms... Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us.... And I don't mind if after the job is done you put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal... What you don't understand is that the dirty work of Zionism is not finished yet, far from it."
-11:19 music break 'Keep it Real'
-11:21 Dennis and Hatem: about Oslo and the history of Israeli duplicity in negotiations.. Hatem: Israel does not want to leave the West Bank, the Jordan Valley, most of all the aquifers beneath the West Bank, they wanted a way to keep the occupation but disguise it in a kinder, gentler package.. Arafat hired by the Israelis.. Oslo meant to repackage occupation, not end it.. Dennis: one only needs to look at a map.. Hatem: about Jewish only settlements and roads.. now w Juliana with the Palestine Monitor from East Jerusalem..
-11:31 Juliana: humanitarian assistance going very slowly, still no cranes or heavy equipment.. not properly able to do the work.. unexploded ordinance.. human rights groups attacked.. very strained conditions.. boy shot in the knee right in front of our offices.. 4 people killed in Nablus today..
-11:40 Dennis and Hatam take listener phone calls..
-11:47 on the phone with a Priest inside the Church of the Nativity: we are eating now one meal a day.. no more running water.. using water from the well.. the situation, unhygenic.. there are many civilians inside the church.. one man shot yesterday, picking vegetables in the garden.. we are praying God convert hatred to peace.. Hakim: we hear the Palestinians are occupying the church.. all the committees living here, not shoot nobody.. you are afraid to go outside, you will be shot immediately.. try to help them.. Dennis: will you come out? will you surrender? will you urge the Palestinians to surrender.. Priest: we are praying to put the two people together.. for all the people in the region.. a mosaic from the 6th century had been damaged.. Samer Salka, a most peaceful man, the bell ringer of the church, a very simple man.. he was killed by the Israelis..
-11:59 AM End this segment.. this review by john lionheart

Start 1PM-2PM Audio

-01:00 PM (joined in progress).. HOLY SITES and HISTORY OF ISRAEL-PALESTINE.. Church of the Nativity.. a call-in listener says see: www.BibleFraud.com
-01:59 PM End this segment.. this review by john lionheart

Start 2PM-3PM Audio

-02:00 PM Visionary Activist, Caroline Casey show
-02:04 Bernstein interview w Palestinian American, Shivvis Moore: teacher at Berziet University, Eyewitness account in Jenin..
-02:16 a shoot to kill curfew, when the military is out of sight people trying beg American visitors to help to dig relatives out of the rubble.. Caroline: emotions are what lead us to kinship.. John: Colin Powell needs to listen to his wife more.. Caroline: made the scapegoat.. we extend our kinship to him.. we hear he is profoundly on the side of a international peacekeeping force.. he is responsible for his own actions.. we would want empathatic, emotive people everywhere.. now w Micah, a Jewish student who spoke at the Deir Yassin rally at Sproul Plaza last Tuesday (see flashpoints show 4/xx).. Dennis: you made many Jews angry by reading the Kaddish.. Micah: I have heard from a lot of people.. it's an incredibly profound statement of solidarity.. all our liberation struggle must entertwine.. recognize all the genocides.. Caroline: the idea of stretching the fabric the bounds of free speech.. British PM calls Sharon a war criminal.. a lifelong friend of Israel.. about Rabbi Michael Lerner.. Dennis: Sharon in a line of deceptive Israeli leaders.. the Isreali people have a responsibility to act.. Micah: those responsibility are those in the government.. Caroline: the press labeling our protests as 'pro-Palestinian' when what we are is pro-human, pro-peace, pro-justice
-02:30 Caroline Casey: setting on the West Bank right now is the moon.. our culture is insane and we all feel it in our hearts.. Dennis: Barbara has founded an organization called the Middle East Children's Alliance.. Barbara: about Micah, reciting the mourners' Kaddish.. the whole talk he gave was moving.. it's ok for a demostration to be called pro-Palestinian.. don't run from the label.. if you are pro-peace you are pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-everyone.. the need is extraordinary.. we have been sending money over for food, and medical supplies.. Caroline: our heartfelt prayers.. John: and your money.. CALL BARBARA AT 510-548-0542.. Barbara: we have to stop arming the world.. Jewish Voice for Peace doing great work.. JusticeInPalestine.org.. Caroline: May 5 is Cinco de Mayo.. part of our intrinsic humaness.. May 5 through May 10, actions and peaceful prayers.. Barbara: I don't want to just focus on the Jewish Comkmunity.. It is an issue for all of us, for all persons of conscience in this country.. the Catholic Church, the Lutherans, have been in that part of the world since the beginning.. Caroline: the symbolisism of the Church.. human to human, getting information out.. intrinsic kinship.. join our council of peace.. listener call-ins.. Dennis: Event: a fundraiser for MECA, MUMIA, and Free Speech Radio.. Howard Zinn and Alice Walker.. Caroline: Oscar Arias said Clinton lifted the ban on selling advanced weaponry to Latin America.. Caller Rita: Delores Park Saturday, march for peace, for Israelis.. Caller Karen: how do the Palestinians feel about the Americans.. how come the people in the US not concerns with how the Christians being treated in Palestine.. Micah: I am in support of immediately ending aid to Israel.. Barbara: that has been the split in the progressive Jewish community.. this is a necessity.. like we cut off the spigot to Pacifica, we have to say, cut off the military spigot to Israel.. Caller Adid: I'm Israeli, part of the left.. living in SF.. why don't we hold the Palestinian leaders responsible too?.. Dennis: it is hard to attack the Palestinian leadership, now, due to the way the leadership has been treated..
-02:59 PM End this segment.. this review by john lionheart

Start 3PM-4PM Audio

-03:00 PM Free Speech Radio News, no review this hour
-03:59 PM End this segment.. this review by john lionheart

Thursday, April 18, 2002 (special continues)
Flashpoints Hour 5PM-6PM Audio Ready

-05:00 PM Dennis: now with Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: Robert Knight: (joined in progress) Canada suffers its first combat deaths in 50 years, as a US Bomber terrorized 12 Canadian soldiers, apparently mistook them for civilians, 4 die. Venezualan coop plotters in touch with US.. Bush in an unreal talk: Chavez must respect pro-democracy values
-05:02 now w Diane Lupin of Paelstinian LAW, Lawyers w/o Borders.. Diane: the last two days, I was in northern Jenin Camp, and Jenin City.. about a press conference earlier today, about eyewitness accounts of what lawyers had seen inside the camp, and resident.. from the evidence that we have.. consistent testimony from eyewitnesses.. videotaped evidence.. several civilians killed deliberately.. dead bodies of women, children, and elderly have been seen.. 75 is an underestimate.. where are all the dead bodies?.. now 8,000 unaccounted for.. people crushed inside houses without warning.. people fleeing houses being crushed, shot by snipers or other weapons.. destruction of property with bulldozers.. a number of journalists saw bodies in the rubble.. videotape evidence.. 30-40 people in each house.. we estimate much higher numbers of casualties.. one witness a widow and five year old son, a bulldozer coming in and crushing their bodies without warning.. a woman whose leg had been crushed off.. people tried to get medical help for her.. the Israelis refused to help.. her body has disappeared.. a mother with 7 children running from a house, being strafed, a 14 year old boy died.. Palestinians laid down their arms, a number of witnesses saw five men, two older men, three men in their thirties.. called our of their houses.. shot a close range by the soldiers.. seven fighters in a room, dropped their rifles.. said "we want to surrender".. the soldiers entered the house, heavy gunfire, and they were dead.. nothing anybody said, prepared me for what I saw.. entire blocks flattened.. knee deep in rubble.. you could smell rotting corpses.. something I'm never going to forget, the stench of the corpses.. blackened out houses, firebombed.. people now allowed back in.. accounts collaborated by what we saw inside the houses.. I am back in Jerusalem now, where we had our press conference today.. about the detainees.. very consistent statement.. separated men from women.. ID cards taken.. being forced to strip.. arms tied behind their backs, hooded or blindfolded.. into a clearing in the forest.. on to a detention center.. forced to kneel.. beaten.. kicked.. held long hours in one position.. help for two-three days in these detention centers.. no water, no food, no medical aid.. people being beaten if they asked for water.. photographs were taken, and given for ID cards.. consistent testimony of some people used as human shields.. soldiers would hold them in front and move them from room to room.. men being used as rifle rests for soldiers.. consistent testimony, believable..

Flashpoints Radio Friday April 19

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