News Highlights:
- On Jan. 28th, Israeli military forces killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza City, including five workers and an 11-year-old boy; the attack was followed by a bus bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 11 Israelis.
- Israel invaded Bethlehem several times over the weekend, searching homes, arresting people and demolishing buildings, including the family home of the activist who carried out the Jerusalem bombing.
- Ariel Sharon says he plans to evacuate most of the settlements in Gaza, but gives no timeframe.
- European Union, along with the U.S., Canada and others, formally states it opposes the the International Court of Justice (ICJ) taking up the issue of Israel’s apartheid wall.
- Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham claims Canada agrees the barrier should be dealt with as a political issue, not a legal one, even though Canada previously said there could be legal questions regarding the separation wall.
- Palestinian officials are angered by latest moves at ICJ, say the apartheid wall is clearly illegal as it is built on occupied land.
- Israel asks U.S. to postpone publishing its annual human rights report, as it may impact on the ICJ hearings.
Feature:
A live interview with Laurie King-Irani, cofounder of Electronic Intifada and one of the team that brought the case for war crimes against Ariel Sharon in Belgium. Laurie explained that due to political pressure from the U.S., Belgium had now changed its laws so that it could no longer consider cases against non-citizens for crimes against humanity. This was a setback for universal jurisdiction, as well as a blow to the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. There was also discussion of what was happening regarding the case against the apartheid wall, and what sort of message this sent to the new Palestinian generation. Laurie noted that she was speaking in Vancouver on Feb. 6th about the peace accords in the Middle East.
Focus on Zionism:
Excerpts of a report from The Observer on Feb. 1st, regarding the call for an inquiry into execution style killings by the Israeli army during their three-week invasion of Nablus earlier this year. The report detailed two of the murders in questions, one of a baker on his way to work, who was shot multiple times after being injured. Although the ambulance driver at the scene noted that the Palestinian man was carrying clothes covered in flour in a bag when killed, the Israeli army later alleged the man was a member of Islamic Jihad carrying a bag of explosives.