March 25, 2002
Thousands Turn Out for Palestinians
Israeli military planners are preparing for a major assault on Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps that will be broader and deeper than the offensive undertaken in the Occupied Territories earlier this month. Israeli officials, speaking on the condition they not be identified, emphasized they intend to give every chance for cease-fire negotiations under the U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, to succeed. The truce terms Zinni is working on do not require Israel to give up the land the Arabs lost in the 1967 war. Violence raged yesterday even with the cease-fire effort. Israeli commandos backed by helicopters tracked and killed four militants who slipped across the normally quiet border with Jordan, and seven other people were killed in incidents elsewhere. International solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinians is growing – thousands turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Paris last weekend set to be the first of many protest and solidarity demonstrations with the Palestinians. Sputnik Kilambi is in Paris.
Palestinian Refugees in the Arab World
Yesterday, tens of thousands of people attended a government-sponsored demonstration in the Syrian capital of Damascus in support of the Palestinian uprising. Arab leaders will meet in the Lebanese capital Beirut Wednesday to discuss Saudi Arabia’s plan to end bloodshed in the Middle East. It is still unclear if Israel will allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to attend. Today we begin a special three part series on the issue of Palestinian refugees. Free Speech Radio News Correspondent Rafael Krafft reports from Beirut.
“Boycott Exxon” Say Londoners
It’s been a year since President Bush dropped the Kyoto treaty. But as a 720 billion-ton Antarctic ice shelf disintegrates, Londoners marched 22 miles from Exxon headquarters outside London to the American Embassy to demonstrate international solidarity with the campaign to stem global warming. Anastasia Kershaw was there.
IMC Protest at FCC
In Washington, outrage in the independent media community inspired a weekend of protest against a wave of mega media mergers and the Federal Communications Commission. Joshua Chaffin reports from DC.
IMC Reporter Sues Daily Mail
In July 2001, the leaders of the world’s richest industrialized nations – known as the G8 – met in Genoa Italy. In the street, as many as a quarter million anti-capitalist protestors opposing the summit clashed with heavily armed police. On Saturday evening, July 21, As Genoa was settling down following the day’s events, protestors resting at the Diaz school were subject to a violent raid by Italian riot police. The first victim was British independent media journalist Mark Covell, who suffered a severe beating, broken ribs and a punctured lung. When Covell regained consciousness the following afternoon, two British journalists were in his well-guarded hospital room. The following Monday, the British newspaper The Daily Mail accused Covell of being the mastermind behind what they referred to as “the bloody Genoa riots.” No charges were filed against Covell and now he is taking the daily mail and Journalist Lucy Morris to Court for defamation of character. As part of the lawsuit, Covell is hoping to draw attention concerns regarding Britain’s corporate media. JoAnn Powers reports.
