This week …

News Highlights:

  • Israeli forces continue to demolish Palestinian homes near Bethlehem, reports the anti-wall campaign in its Jan 9th statement; also, Tulkarem district is under heavy siege since the beginning of the year and farmers cannot harvest their crops.
  • Jan. 9th = Palestinian candidates in the Jan. 25th legislative elections say they reject Israeli conditions on their campaigning in Jerusalem; these conditions not only exclude certain parties, but also forces candidates to register in an Israeli detention facility and receive prior permission for any rallies or meetings.
  • Palestinians in Gaza cannot celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Adha due to widespread poverty; 70% of the population lives on less than $2/day and the borders remain controlled by Israel.
  • Two top U.S. economists predict the Iraq war will cost the U.S. between one and two trillion dollars.

Special Feature:

The special feature looked at two different perspectives on the political legacy of Ariel Sharon, following his debilitating stroke. The first was from a Palestinian intellectual and former PLO representative, Ms. Karma Nabulsi, whose commentary was carried in the Jan. 6/06 Guardian newspaper. Ms Nabulsi had been in Beirut in 1982 and commented on Sharon’s approach of military conquest and how his intentions had always been clear to Palestinians. The other perspective was from an Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy, and was carried in the Jan. 9/06 Haaretz paper. Mr. Levy attempted to paint an honest picture of Sharon’s legacy, saying Sharon was the cause of many of the problems Israel now faces.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a January 10th, 2006 report from AFP about how the settlers at Maaleh Adumim are confident they will keep flourishing, even with the demise of Sharon.

Here is an audio file of this show: