News Highlights:
- Palestinian MP Mustafa Bargouthi says Israel’s prisoner releases are an attempt to deceive world opinion; Israel has arrested 5 times more Palestinians since Annapolis than it has released in a “revolving door” policy and still holds 47 MPs in prison.
- Hamas will not renew the six month old ceasefire with Israel, although it was already broken by Israeli forces on November 4th with a deadly incursion into Gaza that resulted in renewed fighting.
- U.S. army general Keith Dayton, who is training the Palestinian National Security Force for the West Bank, says in an interview marking his 3rd anniversary, that his Palestinian trainees will not fight against Israeli occupation.
- Israel expels UN human rights envoy, Professor Richard Falk, as he attempts to enter the country for a fact-finding mission.
- 200 Israeli police demolish a Bedouin village in the Negev and forcibly evict over 20 families.
Feature:
A special conversation with Palestinian photojournalist and writer Sameh Habeeb from Gaza. Sameh, who we had been unable to connect with earlier due to the power blackouts, updated us on the deteriorating conditions in Gaza for the Palestinian population as a result of the Israeli siege. He also talked about the Free Gaza boats, the fourth of which recently arrived by sea from Cyprus, and there was discussion about the role of the Arab regimes, especially Egypt, in helping to maintain the blockade on Gaza. Sameh’s work can be accessed at www.gazatoday.blogspot.com
Focus on Zionism:
Due to the length of the feature, Focus was postponed for this show.
Here is an audio file of this show: