News Highlights:
- Israeli soldiers raid the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar and injure a local shepherd after throwing a sound grenade directly at him; last month, another Palestinian was killed when Israeli military forces fired a tear gas canister at his face in Nabi Saleh.
- Palestinian and Israeli negotiators meet in Amman, Jordan, the first such meeting in over a year, that ended once again without any breakthroughs or progress.
- Imprisoned Palestine legislator and Fateh leader Marwan Bargouthi pens a letter from prison, saying the peace process is dead and negotiations are finished, and also welcoming the efforts towards national unity reconciliation.
Feature:
A live interview from Cairo with Ehab Lotayef, Egyptian-Canadian activist and poet, about the highlights and momentous events of 2011 and the solidarity work here in Canada. Ehab, who lives in Montreal, first talked about the Arab uprisings in 2011, their significance and the challenges and positive repercussions that lie ahead. He detailed how even he had been surprised by the strength and determination of the democratic forces in the Arab world, especially after so many years of brutal oppression by dictatorial regimes. There was also discussion of the Palestinian solidarity work here in Canada, and the Canadian Boat to Gaza CBG 2011 highlights, as Ehab is a member of the national committee for the CBG and was also a delegate on the last Tahrir voyage.
Focus on Zionism:
Excerpts of a January 1st, 2012 report from the Christian Peacemakers Team CPT about how Israeli settlers are attacking a Palestinian family in their home near Hebron/AlKhalil.
Here is an audio file of this show: