Democracy Now! June 5, 2003

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:06 Headlines The first meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers since the beginning of the intifada has come to an end. In the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stood side by side with Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen, President Bush, and King Abdullah II. In his closing speech, Sharon said: It is in Israel's interest not to govern the Palestinians, but for the Palestinians to govern themselves. He said, A democratic Palestinian state fully at peace with Israel will promote the long-term security and well-being of Israel as a Jewish state. Sharon also pledged to begin dismantling some unauthorized outposts. For his part, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen called for an end to the armed intifada. He said: We will exert full efforts to ending the militarization of the intifada [uprising]. The armed intifada must end and we must resort to peaceful means to achieve our goals." The New York Times reports Sharon s speech fell short of the sweeping remarks US diplomats had drafted and then negotiated, word by word, with Israeli officials. He omitted any reference to ending Israel s occupation of Palestinian land, and pledged only to dismantle settlements Israel considers illegal. In a bizarre twist, the Israeli government issued so-called "clarifications" to Sharon s speech even before he made it. His office said when Sharon referred to a Palestinian state, he meant one that met the conditions he had laid down, such as being demilitarized, and being the only home for Palestinian refugees. President Bush announced the US will monitor whether the two sides fulfill their commitments under the so-called road map to peace. The Israeli newspaper Ha aretz reports President Bush waved his arms as he told reporters his aim is to keep the process moving, like a cowboy on horseback herding cattle. Later, aboard Airforce One sipping a Diet Coke, Bush said: "I used the expression 'ride herd.' I don't know if anybody understood it in the meeting today." * Cameron Barr, Christian Science Monitor reporter in Jerusalem Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0605/p01s01-wome.html At Summit, Israel solidifies gains by Cameron Barr 8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break 8:07-8:58: The invasion of Laos, the killing of four Kent State university students by the National Guard, the relentless violence of the Vietnam war these were the U.S. government s actions 30 years ago. And peaceful protest was not stopping it. In 1969 one group decided to meet violence with violence. They called themselves the Weather Underground. A radical splinter group which broke off from the Students for a Democratic Society, the Weather Underground were convinced that only militant action could end racism, the war in Vietnam and the inequalities they felt inherent in a capitalist society. They took responsibility for bombing two dozen public buildings, including the Pentagon, eventually landing on the FBI s Most Wanted list. A new documentary, The Weather Underground , which tells the story of the militant antiwar group, held its premiere run in New York last night. The group took its name from Bob Dylan s Subterranean Homesick Blues , with the lyric, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." * Mark Rudd, former member of the Weather Underground * Sam Green, filmmaker, The Weather Underground, a documentary that tells the story of the group. 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.