Flashpoints Dec 5; Uri Avnery how to peace; South Koreans tire of US military BS

Thursday, Dec 5, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Leslie Kean: introduction: interview with distinguished Israeli parlimentarian and peace activist, Uri Avneri.. South Koreans sour at US military court verdict absolving two GIs of negligent homicide for crushing two teen age girls under a military vehicle..
-00:45 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: A warmonger presides at a pacifist school, New College.. former US Senator, President Bob Kerrey a member of the Committer for the Liberation of Iraq.. hear audio of his speech supporting military action in general.. and audio of a student debater.. and audio of one of the New School faculty.. April 26, 2001, Kerrey faced student accusations for his execution of 21 South Vietnamese women and children..
-06:45 Dennis: now w Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, and activist for Gush Shalom.. about yesterday's killing of a 95 year old woman in a taxi.. Uri: no Palestinian can travel without being stopped at checkpoints.. many try to walk or drive around.. every act is justified if you're fighting terrorism.. but this taxi was going away from the checkpoint.. soldier shooting at a distance of a hundred yards.. no way to argue self defence.. taxis are standing there.. the soldier shot into a standing taxi.. the day before in the Gaza Strip, the army destroyed a five story building, because six years ago was involved in a terrorist event.. an old man couldn't leave, the building blown up on his head.. ten families left homeless.. a complete disregard for human rights.. for a regular army to commit these acts much worse.. Dennis: about Uri's colorful history.. a fighter against the British.. about your background?.. Uri: I believe all people have a right to their own country.. I believe we will never have peace in Israel, if the Palestinians are denied their rights.. unfortunately, after we occupied the West Bank and Gaza, many people here unwilling to give back.. we already have 78% of the country, the Palestinians left with only 22%.. the right wing Jewish settlements.. lead to ethnic cleansing.. immoral, and will assure that Israel will never have one day of peace.. Dennis: Netanyahu in favor of Arafat exile.. the fear in the Palestinians community that Israel will use a war on Iraq to purge the Palestinians.. Uri: talk in high political circles just that.. about the Labor Party candidate for prime minister.. in the coming election, a clear alternative offered.. I am optimistic.. the real fight, what is the state of Israel do we want?.. eternal war, ethnic cleansing.. or liberal democratic, at peace with its neighbors.. Dennis: the problem of settlement expansion.. a two state solution now impossible?.. Uri: peace means getting rid of the settlement.. if you want the settlements, you will never have peace.. another result, Israeli society breaking up.. economic crisis, the gap between rich and poor the worst in the world.. Dennis: apartheid and Jim Crow?.. Uri: not an exageration to say we are putting Israel into the same situation.. about settlements and settlement roads, creating an apartheid situation.. this is not the kind of state we had in mind 50 years ago.. Dennis: you wrote a book, Infantile Terrorism.. Uri: Sharon like a king of France, forgotten nothing, remembered nothing.. continuing the war of 1948.. Ersazt Israel.. 4 million Palestinians.. if you want a Jewish state in the whole of Palestine, the only solution is ethnic cleansing.. if anyone believes we will have peace after such a thing, think again.. Dennis: about the attacks in Kenya last week.. horrible.. but how about when Israel dropped a 2000 pound bomb on a crowded apartment building, killing 12 children.. Uri: they are equivilent acts.. and important to note that the attacks in Kenya, not done by Palestinians.. we are not faced with 4 million Palestinians, but now faced with 200 million Arabs, and 1 billion Muslims.. this is a vicious circle, not limited to just Palestinians and Israelis.. the administration of the US must realize supporting Sharon is not a joke, a ploy to gain votes.. this is very serious.. Dennis: about the Jenin investigation that didn't happen.. Uri: I disapprove of what our army has been doing in Jenin, I disapprove of suicide bombings, but most of all, I disapprove of what US the doing supporting the worst elements in Israel.. opinion polls in Israel.. a big lie that the Palestinians do not want peace.. turning the life of the average Palestinian to hell, is not supporting Israel.. is supporting the government of Israel, a completely different thing.. Dennis: about the religious right in the US supporting Israel.. Uri: we know that they are basically anti-Semitic.. preach that all Jews must be gathered into Israel, and converted to Christianity, or be wiped out in a so-called *battle of Armegeddon*.. Uri: US Jews amaze me by making common cause with this kind of people.. are they nuts?.. Dennis: your advice to Bush?.. Uri: what happened on Sept 11 a terrible atrocity, a result of a rage in the Arab world, against the US, for supporting the destruction of the Palestinian people.. IF YOU KILL A 95 YEAR OLD ARAB WOMAN WHO WAS MINDING HER OWN BUSINESS, AND THE ARABS SEE IT ON TV ALL OVER THE WORLD.. A TERRIBLE THING, A GATHERING STORM OF RAGE, THE US WILL SUFFER FOR YEARS.. THE WAY TO STOP TERRORISM IS TO END THIS RAGE.. A SIMPLE HUMAN REACTION.. THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION.. THE WAY TO FIGHT TERRORISM, IS TO ELIMINATE THE RAGE THAT SUPPORTS TERRORISM.. THIS IS HISTORICAL PROVEN.. PEOPLE LIVING IN A STATE OF DESPAIR, THOSE PEOPLE WILL BECOME SUICIDE BOMBERS, TERRORISTS.. TO TURN THIS INTO EMPTY SLOGANS, LIKE "WAR OF CIVILIZATIONS" IS RIDICULOUS.. URI: JEWS HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD FOR 1300 YEARS WITHOUT PERSECUTION.. THE PERSECUTION OF JEWS HISTORICALLY DONE BY CHRISTIANS, LIKE THE TYPE OF CHRISTIANS IN THE US RELIGIOUS RIGHT.. LET'S PUT AN END TO OPPRESSION, PUT AN END TO THE HUMILIATION OF HUMAN PEOPLE.. ALL PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS.
-36:47 music break
-37:21 Leslie: about the turmoil in South Korea over the recent acquittal of two US servicemen over the crushing death of two teenagers with a military vehicle.. now w Professor Katherine Moon of Wellesley College.. Prof. Moon: about this case.. about the history of US military use and abuse of South Korea civilians.. widespread prostitution.. cases of rape and murder.. about the withdraw of US troops.. movement of women and pimps.. tensions between local Koreans and military personnel.
-55:00 Mary Bishop: wrapup action tomorrow to protest Paul Wolfowitz speaking at the Commonwealth Club, 11:30AM to 1PM, protest outside the Mark Hopkins Hotel, California and Mason Strs, SF.. more info 415-821-6545
-56:23 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart


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