News Highlights:
- Israeli troops seal off Gaza on Aug. 14th for redeployment; Israeli Chief of Staff estimates that there are 5000 Israeli extremists from outside Gaza who have entered recently.
- U.N. World Food Program stockpiles food supplies for the poorest Palestinians in Gaza for two months due to expected Israeli curfews and closures.
- Aug. 14th – Israeli soldiers shot and injured four Palestinian kids, the youngest 12, during a raid into Dura village near Hebron (al-Khalil) in the West Bank.
- U.S. is sending assessment teams to decide how much new U.S. economic aid can be given to Israel following the redeployment.
- Lutheran Church in America adopts resolution criticizing Israel’s separation wall.
Special News Section:
- Excerpts of a Aug. 16th Guardian report about the dire situation and feelings of Palestinians in Deir al-Balah in Gaza.
- Highlights of a commentary on Al-Awda Media about how most of the 4000 journalists in Gaza are missing the real story, that of how the Israeli occupation will still continue and Gazans will be totally disconnected from the outside world.
Feature:
A cultural feature marking the fall of the Tel Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut in August 1976. The camp had been under total siege and bombardment by Lebanese rightwing forces for 55 days and the civilian population had suffered a complete blockade of food, water and medicine. A poem and a prose selection by Fawaz Turki, the Palestinian-American writer, were presented from his book, “Tel Zaatar was the Hill of Thyme”.
Focus on Zionism:
Highlights of an August 14th, 2005 article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper about how Palestinian labourers in the Gazan settlements are being excluded from Israel’s generous compensation law. However, the labourers point out that they never received even their basic rights, such as minimum wage or vacation time, so this latest injustice does not surprise them.
Here is an audio file of this show: