News Highlights:
- Palestinians continue to protest against the Israeli apartheid wall and its confiscation of land, especially in the Bethlehem region; al Walaja village will be entirely encircled by cement blocks on the wall is completed and the land of the Cremisan monastery in Beit Jala is now also threatened.
- Israeli military forces board two boats with 27 activists in international waters as they try to sail to Gaza to deliver aid; the activists are kidnapped and detained in Israeli jails, and refuse to sign a deportation agreement.
- David Heap, one of the Canadian activists taken off the Canadian ship Tahrir, says he was tasered and roughed up by Israeli forces.
- Canadian Boat to Gaza reps release a statement in Ottawa calling of FM John Baird to step down due to his failure to protect the Canadian citizens imprisoned illegally by Israel; Baird is also under fire by local group Canada Palestine Association for his handling of the recent flap over the PA envoy and for equating Zionism with Judaism and creating an atmosphere of racism.
Feature:
A live interview with Palestinian American writer and activist Ali Abunimah, who was also one of the co-founders of the Electronic Intifada EI. Ali began by explaining why the EI was started, the importance of having independent alternative media and the history of EI since it began and developed a large international following. He then talked about the limitations of the mainstream media and referenced his own recent experience on CBC’s The Current, where he appeared along with an Israeli speaker to discuss the concept of a single democratic state in Palestine/Israel. The backlash by Canada’s Israel lobby was immediate and hysterical and mirrored what happens lately, especially in North America, to all those challenging the Zionist narrative. Ali concluded by calling on listeners to get educated and get involved, particularly with the Boycott Israel movement.
Focus on Zionism:
Excerpts of a November 7th, 2011 article by the Int’l Solidarity Movement in Gaza about the murder of a Palestinian farmer by Israeli forces as he was picking strawberries.
Here is an audio file of this show: