News Highlights:
- Palestinians all across the West Bank and Gaza demonstrated on September 28 to mark the 3rd anniversary of the intifada.
- Global protests were also held the same day to condemn the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine – London had the biggest demo and the city’s mayor addressed the rally.
- 5000 rallied in Lebanon to support the Palestinian and Iraqi peoples – Protestors in Seoul, South Korea condemned the U.S. request to send S. Korean troops to Iraq – 2000 people gathered in downtown Vancouver to protest war and occupation in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.
- The dividing wall being built by Israel in the West Bank will now be routed to enclose the settlement of Ariel, cutting deep into Palestinian land. Israeli cabinet minister says an agreement has been reached with the Americans on this issue.
- Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz launches a verbal assault on the 27 Israeli pilots who have refused to carry out any more attacks that hit innocent civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.
- Israel will ask Egypt and Jordan to use their ports, in order to counter a strike by Israeli seaport workers.
Media Literacy:
This week’s Media Literacy segment was devoted to a tribute to the recently deceased Edward Said.
Feature:
Mordecai Briemberg was interviewed about the Israeli peace activist Mordecai Vanunu who continues to languish in an Israeli jail. He spoke about the picket that had been held in Vancouver earlier that evening (Sept 30) to support Vanunu who documented and exposed Israel’s nuclear program. He also explained the conditions of Vanunu’s kidnapping 17 years ago by the Israeli security services and emphasized the significance of his efforts in telling the world about Israel’s weapons of mass destruction. The hypocrisy of Western countries vis-à-vis suspected weapons of mass destruction in Arab or other Third World countries as compared with proven WMD in Israel was also discussed.
Focus on Zionism:
Btselem, the Israeli human rights NGO, said that the new phase of the dividing wall will infringe on the rights of 80,000 Palestinians. They noted that the 3rd phase goes 22 km into the West Bank, past the Green Line, and that the entire width of the West Bank at that point is just 53 km. A UN Human Rights report said the barrier amounted to illegal annexation of Palestinian territory and must be condemned.