Democracy Now! April 8, 2002

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 THE STATE OF SIEGE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA Helicopter gunships and tanks attacked the refugee camp of Jenin on Saturday. Palestinian sources say the assault left 35 dead and dozens of dead and wounded in the streets. They say the Israelis have blocked ambulances and are asking for world leaders to intervene. Seven Israeli soldiers have died there. In Nablus, tanks and helicopters continue to pound the city. Residents say many houses and some mosques were destroyed by missiles fired from US-made Apache attack helicopters. The Israeli army says it has killed 30 Palestinians in the city since Friday. The head of the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees Peter Hansen called on the Israeli army to end its "pitiless assault" on civilian refugee camps in Nablus and Jenin. He said reports of "pure horror" had been coming in, of helicopters strafing civilian residential areas, systematic shelling by tanks, and of bulldozers razing refugee homes. GUEST: DR. ALI JABAREEN, pediatrician, Jenin Hospital GUEST: YOUNIS AL- KHATIB, president of Palestine Red Crescent Society 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:35 TENS OF THOUSANDS JEWS AND ARABS MARCH TOGETHER IN TEL AVIV; HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS AND ACTIVISTS ACCUSE ISRAEL OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST PALESTINIANS In Tel Aviv, more than 20,000 Jews and Israeli Arabs marched together Saturday night demanding that the government withdraw from the West Bank and immediately resume peace talks with the Palestinians. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that for the first time in the history of anti-war protests in Israel, a group of war widows is calling for an end to the bloodshed. The group's first public move will announce the publication of an advertisement under the banner "No More." GUEST: ADAM KELLER, spokesperson for Gush-Shalom. He will be able to speak about Saturdays Peace Now rally in central Tel Aviv.CONTACT www.gush-shalom.org/english/ Yesterday, Israels High Court of Justice heard an urgent petition from four Israeli human rights group concerned about the treatment of recently detained Palestinian prisoners. The petition was filed after one of the groups, B'Tselem, received information from an Israeli prison source that Palestinians are being tortured. The source also said that the prisoners have been denied basic medical treatment. The court, however, rejected the human rights groups petition. .Since Israel began its siege 10 days ago, thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily detained and arrested by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers roam the streets, searching house to house, removing men between the ages of 15 and 45. Some reports say over 1500 men have been detained in Ramallah alone. No one knows exactly what has happened to them.Beyond the disappearances, there have been reports of widespread human rights violations in the Occupied Territories. GUEST: JESSICA MONTELL, executive director, B'Tselem, the leading Israeli human rights organization monitoring the situation in the Occupied Territories. They try to affect Israeli public discourse through Knesset and other official means. CONTACT: www.btselem.org 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:35-9:58 AN INTERVIEW WITH ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI'S MOTHER AS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES IT WILL SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THE ACCUSED HIJACKER The Justice Department recently announced that it would seek the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, the French citizen accused of being the "20th hijacker" in the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Moussaoui was nowhere near the crime scene on September 11th, but prosecutors believe he would have been had he not been in prison. Moussoui was arrested on immigration charges in the middle of August, just weeks before the attacks. He was only later linked to al Qaeda and accused of being a so-called "terrorist". The 33-year-old Moussaoui, entered the United States in February of 2001 and immediately began trying to learn to fly. According to the DBI, he flunked out of flight school in Norman, Okla., and moved on to the Pan Am International Flying Academy in Minnesota., where he paid $8,000 to use flight simulators designed to train commercial pilots. His instructors became suspicious, and the school called the FBI, which detained Moussaoui on Aug. 17 on immigration charges. At the time of his arrest FBI agents say they found flight manuals for the Boeing 747-400, a flight-simulator computer program, binoculars, two knives, fighting shields and a laptop computer. They say they later learned that French intelligence officials suspected Moussaoui of involvement with Islamic extremists. Moussaoui is the only person so far to stand trial for the September 11th attacks. He will be tried on these charges in Virginia this September. News that the US will seek the death penalty for Moussaoui has sparked outrage in France. The country's Justice Minister has said that it will not turn over evidence that could lead to a death sentence, and it will oppose the death penalty if Moussaoui is convicted. Like other European nations, France abolished capital punishment years go. Well, several days ago, Democracy Now! did one of the first interviews with the mother of Zacarias Moussaoui at her home in France. It was her first conversation with an American reporter since the Justice Department announced that it would seek the death penalty for her son. We continue now with that interview with Aicha El-Wafa. We pick up with her as she describes her reaction to the news that her son could be sentenced to death. GUEST: AICHA EL WAFI, mother of Zacarias Moussaoui, the French citizen accused of being the 20th hijacker in the September 11 attacks. TRANSLATOR: SPUTNIK KILAMBI, reporter for Free Speech Radio News. CONTACT: www.abolition-ecpm.org MUSIC: 6: CRISIS Sounds of Blackness Time for Healing (Perspective Records CD) 20: IMAGINE The Persuasions The Persuasions Sing The Beatles www.chesky.com 4O: ONLY THE OUTLAWS ARE FREE Freak Parade Featuring Moogy Klingman Take Your Place in the Freak Parade www.moogymusic.com End: OVER THE RAINBOW Doris Day 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS