News Highlights:
- Israeli army is using Palestinian civilians as human shields in their military operations, most recently in Nablus, something that is banned even by the Israeli Supreme Court.
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accuses EU of fostering a pro-Israel approach and turning a blind eye to Israeli violations while still maintaining the siege on Palestinians.
- Several EU countries are already calling for a change in EU policy once the new Palestinian unity government is in place.
- Israeli cabinet minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer cancels trip to Egypt following Israeli TV documentary saying Ben Eliezer’s commando unit executed 250 Egyptian POWs in 1967.
Note: A panel discussion followed the news and analyzed the difficulties in forming the new Palestinian coalition government, as well as the EU position regarding the economic siege on the Palestinian people.
Feature:
An Eyewitness Palestine with a special report from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on fundraising in the U.S. to support expansion and strengthening of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli settlement organization Amana has been hosting “housing fairs” across the U.S. asking buyers to purchase a settlement home that would then be rented out to settlers, and thereby “leave your thumbprint on the destiny of Israel”.
Focus on Zionism:
Highlights of a March 4th, 2007 report from the World Food Program that stated 80% of Gazans receive food aid and live below the poverty line, and 54% are “food insecure”.
Here is an audio file of this show: