Democracy Now!
Fri., Feb 21, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 2-21-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
"Whenever you have war and oppression overseas, rest
assured you're going to have repression and injustice
at home" outspoken Palestinian Professor Sami al-Arian;
he was indicted yesterday by Ashcroft on charges of material
support to terrorists and led away in handcuffs
Today is the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm
X: we hear his famous speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet"
Iraq Journal: gun sales are booming as Iraqis prepare for
war
9:01-9:10 Headlines: IRAQ JOURNAL: GUN SALES ARE BOOMING
AS IRAQIS PREPARE FOR WAR
And we go to Jeremy Scahill in Baghdad for the latest Iraq
Journal.
Tape: Iraq Journal, with Jeremy Scahill and Jacquie Soohen
in Baghdad
9:10-9:25 "WHENEVER YOU HAVE WAR AND OPPRESSION OVERSEAS,
REST ASSURED YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE REPRESSION AND INJUSTICE
AT HOME" OUTSPOKEN PALESTINIAN PROFESSOR SAMI AL-ARIAN;
HE WAS INDICTED YESTERDAY BY ASHCROFT ON CHARGES OF MATERIAL
SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS
The Justice Department yesterday indicted a leading Palestinian
professor in Florida and seven other Muslim men for alleged
connections to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization.
The professor Sami Al-Arian was a leading member of the
Muslim community in Florida. He made national headlines shortly
after Sept. 11 when his school, the University of South Florida,
put him on paid leave because of suspected ties to terrorists.
Yesterday Attorney General John Ashcroft charged that he
is the North American leader of Islamic Jihad and a chief
financier of the group. Islamic Jihad is designated by the
State Department as an international terrorist organization.
As FBI agents lead al-Arian away in handcuffs, he told reports,
"It's all about politics."
Al-Arian's attorney, Nicholas Matassini, said Al-Arian
was a political prisoner and described the Justice Department's
indictment as a work of fiction.
The indictment claims Al-Arian and the other men provided
material support to an organization that conspired to kill
and maim people abroad. Each man could face life in prison
if convicted.
We talked yesterday with Georgetown law professor David
Cole about the case. Cole formerly represented Al-Arian's
brother-in-law Mazen Al-Najjar who was once jailed in the
U.S. for three and a half years on secret evidence.
I also talked recently with Sami Al-Arian himself, when
he spoke at the Not in Our Name rally in Central Park last
October.
Tape: David Cole, Georgetown University Law professor and
author of"Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing
Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security." He
represented Sami Al-Arian's brother-in-law.
Tape: Sami Al-Arian, South Florida professor and Palestinian
activist who was one of eight men indicted Thursday on terrorism
charges by the Justice Department
9:25-9:26 One-Minute Music Break
9:26-9:45 TODAY IS THE 38TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION
OF MALCOLM X: WE HEAR HIS FAMOUS SPEECH, "THE BALLOT
OR THE BULLET"
Today is the 38th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm
X.
Malcolm X was one of the greatest leaders this country saw
in the last century.
On February 21, 1965, he was shot to death as he spoke before
a packed audience in Harlem's Audubon Ballroom. He was just
39 years old.
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha,
Nebraska.
His mother, Louise Norton Little, raised the family's eight
children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist
minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus
Garvey.
The white supremacist organization Black Legion threatened
Malcolm's father with death many times, forcing the family
to relocate twice when Malcolm was a toddler. When he was
four years old, Malcolm and his family watched white men burn
their home to the ground. Two years later, his father's
mutilated body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks.
Malcolm's mother had an emotional breakdown several years
later and was committed to a mental institution. Her children
were split up amongst foster homes and orphanages.
Despite this, Malcolm excelled in school and graduated from
junior high at the top of his class. He lost interest in school
when his favorite teacher told him his idea of becoming a
lawyer was QUOTE "no realistic goal for a nigger."
He dropped out, and eventually wound up in Harlem, New York,
where he became a drug dealer, a pimp and a thief. At the
age of twenty, he was caught and sentenced to several years
in prison for robbery.
In prison, Malcolm renewed his studies and found the teachings
of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam.
By the time he got out of prison, Malcolm had converted
to Islam and changed his name. He considered "Little"
a slave name and chose the surname "X" to symbolize
his lost African name.
Malcolm was appointed a minister and national spokesman
for the Nation of Islam. He established new mosques in Detroit,
Michigan Harlem, and other cities.
He was largely credited with increasing the Nation of Islam's
membership from 500 in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963.
As Malcolm X's fame began to supersede Elijah Muhammad's,
tensions grew within the Nation of Islam. FBI agents infiltrated
the organization. Shortly after learning Elijah Muhammad was
betraying his own teachings and having affairs with several
women, Malcolm X split with the Nation of Islam. He founded
the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
Malcolm X was shot to death on February 21, 1965 by Black
Muslims. Many believe the FBI helped to foment the tensions
between Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam.
Salim Muwakkil is senior editor of the Chicago-based magazine
ŒIn These Times' and a columnist with the Chicago
Tribune. In a recent article he wrote:
"[Nearly four decades after Malcolm X was gunned down,]
his fame continues to spread. Malcolm X helped give birth
to the cultural nationalist movement with his rhetorical embrace
of African culture. He also nurturedŒrevolutionary'
nationalists (like the Black Panther Party) by focusing on
anti-colonial struggles in the Third World. He gave sustenance
to many African-American radicals who embraced his socialist
prescriptions even as he provided spiritual fuel for the growth
of many Islamic organizations in the black community. With
his emphasis on alternative scholarship, Malcolm is also cited
as a progenitor of the "Black Studies" academic
movement."
We turn now to a speech Malcolm X gave in Detroit just a
year before he was gunned down. It is known as ŒThe Ballot
or the Bullet.'
Tape: Malcolm X, speaking in Detroit in 1964
9:45 9:58 Malcolm X cont'd
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today's program, call 1 (800) 881 2359. Our
website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
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