News Highlights:
- Israeli forces prevent the funeral procession for Yosef Srur from reaching the burial grounds in Nilin; Srur was killed by Israeli soldiers during an anti-wall protest.
- Al Masara villagers near Bethlehem march in their weekly demo against the apartheid wall, and also mark the 42nd anniversary of the Israeli occupation.
- Israeli officers testify that troops have beaten Palestinians as young as 14 that were bound and blindfolded in the village of Hares in the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli settlers increase the number of settlement outposts, calling one “Obama Hut”.
- Israeli press says that more than 3200 settler housing units have been built since the beginning of 2008 and more construction is expected.
Feature:
A special presentation of stories and poetry marking the 42nd anniversary of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Stories of two Palestinian villages were highlighted, one called Marda in the northern West Bank that now sits between the settlement of Ariel and barbed wire and is completely isolated from surrounding villages and even its own farming land. The second report was from Amnesty International and detailed the suffering of villagers in Hadidiya in the Jordan Valley who face immediate eviction from their homes. The poetry of Yusuf Hamdan was also presented, and his poem To Jerusalem was read in both Arabic and English.
Focus on Zionism:
Highlights of the June 8th, 2009 statement by Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, dealing with the victory of the Boycott Israel movement in pressuring French company Veolia to abandon the Jerusalem light rail project.