Flashpoints Dec 4: Israel kills 96 year old; Turkey and US; Joy Sadler on strike

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: Israeli soldiers kill an 95 year old Palestinian woman for riding in a cab on a *Jews Only* road.. Turkey, Israel, and the US hawks.. an HIV positive woman activist on a hunger strike in an Indonesian jail
-00:55 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: night long curfew in East Timor after riots.. Turkey's president says no firm agreement to let the US use its airbases.. Wolfowitz offers money.. Iraq accuses arms inspectors of spying (Fisk).. in Israel, Sharon details his plan for a Palestinian state.. wants more West Bank, more Gaza.. Palestinians ask Germany to stop selling armored personnel carriers to Israel.. Bush wants to give Israel 14 billion more US taxpayer dollars. *
-04:45 Dennis: soldiers outside Ramallah open fire on a taxicab.. 17 shots fired.. killing a 95 year old woman, Fatima Mohamed Abeid, and wounding two other women in the cab.. (Pal Monitor) (news2) (news3).. now w Diana Lupine (sp?) of the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment.. Diane: about how the cab wandered onto a settlement road.. none of the occupants were armed or dangerous.. Israel giving false and various claims.. about Fatima Mohamed Abeid, she was buying holiday gifts for her 19 grandchildren.. Dennis: any Palestinian now risks immediate execution for riding on a Jews Only road.. Diane: about another shooting in Jenin, on Nov 29.. the same day Iain Hook was killed.. Caoimhe Butterly, a 23-year-old Irish activist, was shot and wounded too.. about Iain Hook, eyewitness by Irish, left the compound three times with a UN flag, eyewitness says Israeli commander told Hook to go back to the compound, that he could not evacuate.. then he was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper.. Dennis: was this an execution?.. Diane: hard to believe that the Israelis wouldn't have known his.. he was negotiating with the Israeli over the phone.. about Butterly, her medical condition is satisfactory, in good spirits.. witness Hook talking to the Israelis.. she was negotiating herself with Israelis inside an APC who had been shooting toward a group of children.. she had been threatened by a soldier before she was shot.. she heard the Israeli officer tell Hook, 'fuck off, get back in the compound'.. Diane: the Israeli motives?.. the circumstances are suspicious.. a sniper with sophisticated visual equipment, how could he mistake a cellphone for a grenade?.. about the dialogue between the UNRWA and Israel, about investigating the murder of Hook.. my day in Jenin yesterday.. the people 'normalizing' the curfew, ignoring the curfew when they can, shopping, trying to celebrate Ramadan.. also see: UN General Assembly adopts new resolutions
-19:26 music break Annie DeFranco: 'Self Evident'..
-27:00 Sasha Lily: about the cozy relationship between Turkey, Israel, and the US hawks.. about Turkey.. its atrocious human rights record.. armed by US.. fighting its Kurdish population.. Richard Perle, one of the strongest.. worked for many years as a lobbyist for Turkey.. Douglas Fife represented Turkey and Israel arms manufacturers.. Greek advocacy group asks for investigation into Perle and Fife.. about Paul Wolfowitz, negotiating a deal with Turkey, support for US war on Iraq in exchange for debt forgiveness.. Turkey to invade Iran northern area.. now w Arman Georgian, London based journalist.. about a northern Iraqi province, Kilkuk (sp?), formerly a part of Turkey, where ethnic rivalries and oil routes meet.. Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen all competing for the oil.. if there is war, could be factional fighting.. about the creation of British Petroleum.. bribed the Ottomans.. Iraq then became a British colony.. about the possibility of rewriting the map of Turkey and Iraq once again.. Kurds call Kilkuk their 'Jerusalem'.. William Safire in the NY Times calling for the relationship with Turkey to be strengthened.. rumors of a secret deal between US and Turkey to let Turkey take over northern Iraq.. the significance of oil in the region.. American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil, if Saddam goes.. Haliburton, Chevron, Texaco.. Cheney, Condi Rice.. Haliburton shipping equipment to Iraq as late as 2000.. French and Russian companies have substantial operations in Iraq already.. US had to give France and Russia guarantees for their vote in the Security Council.. the US and Turkey.
-43:25 music break The Price of Oil
-47:35 Dennis: US nurse, Joy Lee Sadler, on a hunger strike, both on trial for visa violations in Indonesia.. 81 days.. now with Kurt Biddle of the Indonesia Human Rights Network.. Kurt: on Sept 10 both women ordered off a bus.. a scuffle, both women beaten and arrested.. groped, interogated for four days.. denied contact with their embassies.. Sadler is HIV positive.. health deteriorating.. Dennis: rough treatment for visa violators, what's going on?.. Kurt: the other woman, Lesley McCulloch, a journalist, has written a lot on human rights violations in Indonesia.. both suffering, but they are being treated better than the local Aceh people imprisoned.. Aceh area rich in natural gas.. Indonesia has been clamping down for years.. the US is turning its head to this case and to Indonesian human rights violations.. Exxon Mobil being sued for hiring Indonesian soldiers who torture and kill on Exxon Mobil property.. the women's trial finally started, then stopped again.. the two are only charged with minor visa violations.. Indonesia making a huge deal out of this to intimidate foreign journalists, NGOs, outside observers.. even Admiral Blair rebuffed.. Kurt: to help, you can fax a letter of protest via our website, www.IndonesiaNetwork.org.. or call 510-559-7762 for mail and phone information.
-55:20 Mary Bishop: wrapup
-55:56 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart


Tuesday, Dec 3, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: huge oil slick hits the coast of Spain.. report from protests in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.. Kathy Kelly's Iraqi Journal.. Sierra Club threatening its Glen Canyon (So. Utah) chapter for speaking out against Bush's war plans
-00:49 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: Weapons inspectors pour over one of Saddam's palaces.. Turkey says its airbases can be used by the US.. Wolfowitz in Ankara.. South Koreans send a delegation to Washington DC., to protest the death of two children.. (audio of woman describing the 120,000 US crimes committed in South Korea since the Korean War).. 130,000 Koreans sign petition demanding a Bush apology.. Iraq lodges a complaint against the US for killing four workers at a petroleum plant.. Pentagon says civilian casualties not given much attention.. the oxymoronic concepts of *military intelligence* and *precision bombing*.
-06:32 Dennis: continuing coverage of huge oil slick hitting spain.. now on the beach w Nick Jenkins of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.. Nick: a dolphin washed up and died.. thousands of sea birds killed.. 250 being treated.. a tragedy on our hands.. lost 15,000 birds so far.. the majority of the slick has not come ashore.. 9000 tons of oil.. a national maritime park here.. in the worst area, thick oil covering everything.. 900 volunteers.. grim and depressing.. a massive number of local people working together.. difficult seeing all the dead wildlife.. but harder to take, those struggling to live.. Dennis: what kind of wildlife?.. Nick: 19 species affected so far.. razorbills, cormorans, puffins.. and a couple very rare endangered bird species.. this is a marvelous coastline.. the world's greatest mussel producing area.. 4,500 fisherman told to stop fishing, they are still working though, cleaning the coast.. a very warm and loving community here.. a Hawaiian friend says this community has the 'aloha spirit'.. genuinely concerned.. this is damaging their future for many years to come.. Dennis: Greenpeace is saying that the Spanish goverment is failing.. Nick: I couldn't say, but the local government is certainly trying hard.. about the process of rescuing, washing, and rehabilitating the birds.. Dennis: what will you do if the situation gets much worse?.. Nick: we have contingency plans, but we hope it does not get worse.. enormous numbers of birds would die out at sea, before we ever see them..
-19:27 Dennis: thousands of supporters of Aristide in the streets today confronting hundreds of anti-Aristide protestors.. now w Kevin Pina, independent filmmaker and special Flashpoints correspondent in Port-au-Prince.. Kevin: the anger was uncontainable.. remember these people are starving.. they see the 'Convergence' as a proxy of US foreign policy.. see themselves as being made to suffer for their democratic choices.. Dennis: the Convergence protest over the death of a journalist a year ago.. Kevin: neither Aristide nor anyone else could contain this anger.. these are the poor.. given hope by Aristide, the genie out of the bottle.. saying enough is enough with the games.. telling the US you are not going to overthrow our government.. Kevin: in the streets today.. Convergence demostration chanting pro-military slogans.. the Aristide supporters exploded and attacked the Convergence.. to the credit of Lavalas, no one was seriously injured.. the Aristide/Lavalas supporters are the same people physically hurt by previous military government.. I saw people out there without legs and arms shouting at the Convergence.. a campaign of destabilization, prices up 40%.. the poor are angry.. I heard Lavalas people chanting, 'if civil war is what you want, civil war is what you'll get'.. Dennis: 20,000 M16s and 900 US advisors sent to neighboring Dominican Republic.. Kevin: the people are resolutes, their voice has been heard finally, and they are willing to fight and die for their dignity..
-30:00 music break
-30:50 Dennis: now with this week's Kathy Kelly's Iraqi Journal.. Kathy: I'm in Baghdad with Voices in the Wilderness.. five new people came in today.. we're taking up residence and will be here if US attacks.. to represent the average Iraqi.. today we're aware of Tony Blair's release of a dossier about Iraqi human rights abuses.. Amnesty International saying it's not fair to use abuses from the 80's to justify an attack now.. the primary violation of human rights against the Iraqi people is the US led sanctions.. about a neighborhood I visited today.. streets full of sewage and garbage, a one room home.. a man with a family, is working double shifts trying to get by.. a small space heater.. a patio in front with a cookstove and latrine.. a tiny baby will die unless she gets heart surgery.. the grandmother with one leg and a broken wheelchair.. made us a meal, a sign of great graciousness.. if they are to see any change in the future, will probably be a massive bombardment.. about another house we visited.. women, one a teacher makes 5 dollars a month.. their aged mother, asks me, "where I hide?".. in 1991 she just stood in the corner.. and we're aware that the bombing hasn't stopped, it is continual.. the US bombed the Iraqi Oil Company.. we know five fathers who work there.. do those people represent a threat to the US?..
-39:39 music break
-40:54 Dennis: the Sierra Club threatening to disband its Glen Canyon chapter for speaking out against Bush's war on Iraq.. now w Patrick Diehl, vice chairman of the (Southern Utah) Glen Canyon chapter.. Patrick: we disagreed with the tepid statement by the Sierra Club on Iraq, and the lack of input.. we were not consulted at all.. Bush wanting perpetual war.. about the Glen Canyon statement on Bush's war for oil (excerpt): "The present administration has declared its intention to achieve total military dominance of the entire world. We believe that such ambitions will produce a state of perpetual war, undoing whatever protection of the environment that conservation groups may have so far achieved.".. Patrick: we were incensed at the one sided Sierra Club resolution (actually three resolutions, Patrick lists their point by point objections).. Dennis: I just spoke to Allan Madison with the Sierra Club.. Patrick: the Sierra Club failure's to say anything against Bush..just faulting Iraq.. about the threat from Sierra Club HQ.. Dennis: why your strong feelings?.. Patrick: the Club's stand is calculated to antaganize members.. it is imperative for the environmental movement to ally with the peace movement.. or we won't be able to stand up to Bush.. the Club's strategy is a disaster.. Patrick: the bombing in the Balkans, massive environmental damage in a just a few hours.. Bush's perpetual war.. a constant environmental beating, and curtailing civil liberties, and suppressing dissent.. for environmental organizations to stand weakly by.. a betrayal of their responsibilities and the planet.. Dennis: if (Sierra Club president) Karl Pope bans you?.. Patrick: the four of us will not back down.. we've crossed the Rubicon.. our chapter full of activists, we'll continue our work.. we thought it important to stand up and take action.. Patrick: how you can help?.. please email a message of support for us to the Board of the Sierra Club and/or to us in the Glen Canyon Chapter.. (or email both groups together ).. Patrick: or call me at 435-826-4778
-55:30 Mary Bishop: wrapup
-56:06 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart