Democracy Now! May 6, 2003

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:10 Headlines 8:10-8:11 One Minute Music Break 8:11-8:30: Palestinian and Israeli extremists are doing everything they can to sabotage the US-backed so-called road map to peace . Palestinian gunmen last night shot dead an Israeli settler and wounded two others in the West Bank. The attack came just hours after U.S. envoy William Burns met with recently installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Burns told Abbas and other senior Palestinian official they must make every effort to stop attacks on Israelis. Burns said this is necessary to ensure progress on the US-backed so-called road map to peace. Meanwhile, Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon has arrived in the U.S. to lobby Congress and Christian fundamentalists against the US-backed roadmap. Elon is scheduled to hold a news conference tomorrow in which he will present a plan of his own. The Israeli newspaper Ha aretz reports Elon s plan will call for the establishment of a Palestinian state but not in the Occupied Territories. He will say the Palestinians should establish their country in Jordan. Elon said in a statement: "Our stay in Judea and Samaria is not temporary." Judea and Samaria are ancient Jewish names for the occupied West Bank. Elon is planning to lobby prominent Christian fundamentalists close to President Bush. An Israeli government spokesman told the AFP these religious leaders include Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who once said that "God gave the land to the descendants of Israel. It was not given to Palestine." The Ha aretz reports Alon said: "It's clear that Islam is on the way to disappearing. What we are now seeing across the Muslim world is not a powerful surge of faith but the dying embers of Islam. How will it disappear? Very simply. Within a few years a Christian crusade against Islam will be launched, which will be the major event of this millennium. Obviously, we will be up against quite a large problem when only the two great religions of Judaism and Christianity remain, but that's still a long way off." * Daniel Ben Simon, journalist with the Israeli newspaper Ha aretz * Elaine Hagopian, professor emeritus of Sociology at Simmons College in Boston. Host on Arabic Community Television in Boston. Syrian Arab/Armenian background. * John Grebe, producer of Boston College radio show, "Sounds of Dissent" (WZBC 90.3 FM in Boston, Saturdays at noon) and author of "Rev. Pat Robertson in the Temple: Channeling the Word to the Infidels," published on CounterPunch.org Link: "Rev. Pat Robertson in the Temple: Channeling the Word to the Infidels" at: http://counterpunch.org/grebe04242003.html * Marty Federman, arrested at Temple Beth Shalom in Framingham, MA at a Pat Robertson event, currently a Jewish educator, co-chair of Visions for Peace with Justice in Israel/Palestine" 8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break 8:21-8:30 CONT D 8:30-8:40: The U.S. government last week launched its Arabic language satellite TV news station for Iraq. Iraq is overwhelmingly a Muslim country. But according to independent journalist Russell Mokhiber, Iraq s newest TV station is being produced by Grace Digital Media, a studio which is controlled by fundamentalist Christians. Grace Digital Media also runs Grace News Network which claims to be QUOTE "dedicated to transmitting the evidence of God's presence in the world today." The U.S. agency the Broadcasting Board of Governors has defended the selection of Grace Digital. They say its fundamentalist Christian, pro-Israeli leadership will have nothing to do with the editorial side of the news broadcast in Iraq. * Russell Mokhiber, editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Link: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15801 8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break 8:41-8:58: Leslie Cagan spoke at American Spirit, Values & Power: Resisting Empire, Affirming Our Vision conference at CUNY this weekend. 8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press with help from Noah Reibel and Vilka Tzouras. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro and engineer. Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Emily Kunstler, Orlando Richards, Simba Rousseau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Karen Ranucci, Fatima Mojadiddy, Denis Moynihan and Jenny Filipazzo.