THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Israel's Bombing of Syria Increases
  Fear of Regional Conflict
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• California's Governor-Elect
  May Be Forced to Renege
  on 'No New Tax' Pledge
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Supporters of Imprisoned Native American
  Activist Leonard Peltier Continue Fight
  for His Parole Release
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Underreported News Summary
  from Around the World
  For full summary and audio, Click here!

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Not since the 1973 Middle East War have Israelis and Syrians attacked each other's territory. That 30-year cease-fire ended on Oct. 5, when Israel launched a pre-dawn bombing raid against what they described as a terrorist training camp just 15 miles northwest of the Syrian capitol Damascus. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the attack was launched in retaliation for a Palestinian suicide bombing the day before in Haifa, which killed 20 people.

The Syrians stated that the camp which was bombed had long ago been abandoned, and denied the accusation from Washington and Israel that their government harbored members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad who regularly carry out attacks inside Israel. Syria immediately introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council condemning the Israeli attack. But the Bush administration, which had withheld public criticism of Israel's air strike, threatened to veto the Syrian resolution.

While Syria's military is widely believed to be unable to stop any future Israeli attack, spokespersons for the government of Bashar al-Assad said their nation will respond with all means possible in case that aggression is repeated. Growing anger in the Arab street fueled concern around the world that any similar Israeli offensive against its neighbors could trigger a new regional Middle East conflict. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Robert Blecher, assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond, who assesses reaction in the Middle East to Israel's recent bombing raid against Syria.

Robert Blecher is a regular contributor to Middle East Report. Contact Middle East Report by calling (202) 233-3677 or visit their website at www.merip.org

Related links:

• "Israel/Occupied Territories: Wanton Destruction Constitutes a War Crime," Amnesty International, Oct. 14, 2003
• "The origin of the Palestine-Israeli conflict," Jews for Justice, April 5, 2002
• "Background to the Israel-Palestine Crisis," by Stephen R. Shalom, Z Magazine, May 2002
• "Middle East Time Line," by Stephen R. Shalom, Z Magazine, (revised, Dec. 12, 2001)
• ZNet Middle East Watch, History and Context, a resource page featuring articles, links and resources explaining the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and providing contextual background information.
• "Ten Years After Oslo," by Catherine Cook, Traverse City Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.), September 2003

California's Governor-Elect
May Be Forced to Renege
on 'No New Taxes' Pledge

Interview with David Kaun,
professor of economics
at the University of California,
conducted by Scott Harris

Mimicking the script of a predictable Hollywood melodrama, action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger came out of political obscurity to lead California's recall election campaign to replace incumbent Democratic Gov. Gray Davis from office. But after appealing for votes on a pledge to raise no new taxes and to repeal the state's new automobile tax, the multi-millionaire movie star confronts a state budget deficit that could total more than $20 billion by next year.

Upon becoming only the second governor in American history to win office in a recall election, the actor was congratulated by President Bush and called upon GOP Congressman David Dreier to lead his transition team. Throughout the abbreviated campaign, the Republican party has denied frequent accusations that it had engineered the recall election in order to gain advantage in the nation's most populous state for President Bush's 2004 re-election bid. Just weeks before taking office, Schwarzenegger and his supporters have not yet provided details on how they will address California's budget dilemma, beyond asking for a federal bailout from their Republican friends in Washington.

One bright spot for progressives in California's Oct. 7 election was the defeat of Proposition 54, which would have banned the state from collecting data on race and ethnicity to track demographic trends in such areas as education and health care. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with David Kaun, professor of economics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who takes a look at the economic crisis that will confront California's new governor, and an economic crisis that has gripped most of the nation's 50 states.

Related links:

• "Schwarzenegger Asked To Explain Ken Lay Meeting," The Associated Press, Oct. 14, 2003
• "Schwarzenegger's First Role As Governor-Elect of California: The Deregulator," by Jason Leopold, CommonDreams.org, Oct. 10, 2003
• "Schwarzenegger Electricity Plan Fuels Fears of Another Debacle," by Zachary Coile, San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 10, 2003
• "Arnold Unplugged - It's Hasta la vista to $9 Billion if the Governator is Selected," By Greg Palast, www.commondreams.org, Oct. 3, 2003
• " California's Ominous Leadership Trend" by James Carroll, Boston Globe, Oct. 14, 2003

Supporters of Imprisoned Native American
Activist Leonard Peltier Continue Fight
for His Parole Release

Interview with David Hill,
director of the Leonard Peltier
Defense Committee,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Native American Leonard Peltier is in his 28th year of imprisonment, convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Over the years, efforts to win justice for Peltier have revealed gross misconduct on the part of the U.S. government and its agents in this case. These include coercive measures taken against a learning disabled Native American woman who perjured herself by claiming she saw Peltier shoot the agents; withholding of thousands of pages of documents; and suppression of exculpatory evidence that showed Peltier's gun did not fire the bullets that killed the agents. Several years ago, the prosecutor admitted that the government couldn't prove who shot the agents. The U.S. is now holding Peltier for "aiding and abetting" the homicide. But for that crime, he would have been eligible for parole years ago.

In September, Peltier's attorneys appealed the government's denial of parole before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. There, activists organized a march in support of Peltier and held a conference featuring long-time American Indian Movement leaders.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with David Hill, director of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, about the latest developments in Peltier's case and about the recent arrest of Bill Janklow, South Dakota's congressman and the state's former governor, attorney general and prosecutor, who has been closely linked with Peltier's case. Janklow was recently charged with manslaughter after his car crashed into a motorcyclist, killing him.

Contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee at (785) 842-5774 or visit their website at www.leonardpeltier.org for a history of Peltier's case, and a sample letter to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals requesting parole for the Native American activist.

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• The beating death of female Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazema by Iranian police interrogators occurred during a crackdown on dissent by religious hardliners. Opponents of Iran's fundamentalist government have been split, but were buoyed by the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian democracy activist. ("The Long Wait for Change," World Press Review, October 2003)
• Media activists successful in getting congressional support to oppose recent media deregulation initiatives by FCC, are now looking to block renewal of some broadcast licenses. ("Media activists feel feisty," The News and Observer [of Raleigh, N.C.] via Commondreams.org, Oct. 4, 2003).
• Professional team sports and the military are a few of the arenas left where openly gay employees are not tolerated. ("Is Baseball Ready for a Gay Jackie Robinson?" In These Times, Sept. 15, 2003.)
  

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Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
News reader: Elaine Osowski
Segment Producer: Melinda Tuhus
Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates and Bill Cosentino
Senior Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Web producer: Jeff Yates
Web editor: Bill Cosentino
Executive producer: Scott Harris
Theme music: Mikata

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 10/17/03

Bush Re-Election Issues

"State Dept. Study Foresaw Trouble Now Plaguing Iraq," New York Times, Oct. 19, 2003

"Wilson Adds Ammo to Hit War Credibility Gap," US.News & World Report, Oct. 20, 2003

"Daniel Ellsberg: Nixon-Era Informer Zooms In On Present,Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), Oct. 19, 2003

"Fears of More U.S. Electoral Chaos After Flaws are Discovered in Ballot Computers," Independent UK, Oct. 14, 2003

"Electronic Voting's Vulnerability to Tampering Could Undermine Public Confidence," Between The Lines, Oct. 17, 2003

"Ray McGovern: Critics Question Credibility of FBI Investigation into White House Leak Exposing CIA Operative," Between The Lines, Oct. 17, 2003

"Bush's Pre-Emptive War Doctrine Condemned as Related Scandals Erupt in White House," Between The Lines, Oct. 10, 2003

"The Big Lie," The London Daily Mirror, Sept. 22, 2003

American Empire/War Profiteering

"Halliburton Unit In Consortium Fingered For Alleged Corruption," The Houston Business Journal, Oct. 10, 2003

"Scott Ritter: The Iraq War and The Bush Administration's Pursuit of Global Domination," Counterpoint, Sept. 15, 2003

"Cheney's Ties to Halliburton," The Washington Post, Sept. 26, 2003

"Oil Services Firm Paid Cheney as VP," Reuters, Sept. 17, 2003

"Immunity for Iraqi Oil Dealings Raises Alarm," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 7, 2003

"Pipeline Politics: Oil, The Taliban, and the Political Balance of Central Asia," World Press Review Special Report, Nov.-Dec. 2001

"War Profiteering," by The Nation editors, April 24, 2003

Postwar Occupation of Iraq

"Iraqi Shiite Split Widens," The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 16, 2003

Civil Liberties

"Local Peace Group Infiltrated By Government Agent," San Francisco Bay Area IMC, Oct. 4, 2003

"Fascism Anyone?" 14 Signs of Fascism, Free Inquiry Magazine, Volume 23, No. 2

"Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism," The Crisis Papers, June 9, 2003

Multi-Ethnic Issues Advocacy

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson's Commentaries, The Hutchinson Report
and in Audio (needs RealPlayer)