News Highlights:
- Ambulance service in the Gaza Strip grinds to a complete halt from a lack of fuel due to the Israeli siege.
- A 10-year-old Palestinian boy is killed when the Israeli army opened fire at Palestinian homes in Dier al Balah in central Gaza.
- Israeli forces kidnap a Palestinian woman engineering student in Nablus, the latest of 6 Palestinian women to be abducted recently by the Israeli military; there are at least 110 Palestinian female political prisoners in Israeli jails.
- Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone any discussions on Jerusalem, something Abbas’ office has denied.
- Ehud Olmert also said he is only hoping to reach an understanding on “basic principles” by the end of 2008, and appointed Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad also expresses doubts over any progress in reaching a peace deal this year.
- London School of Economics Students Union votes for divestment from companies that provide support to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Feature:
The feature was an in-depth conversation with Jamila Ghaddar from United for Students Rights at McMaster University in Hamilton. Jamila spoke about recent moves at McMaster by both the administration and the McMaster Student Union MSU to suppress free speech and open debate around the Palestinian issue, particularly as regards Israeli apartheid. There was discussion about how the issue had developed, actions by the Israel lobby on other campuses across Canada, as well as late breaking news of statements by MSU officials denying any intention to “shutdown …discussion relating to the Israel-Palestine conflict”. Jamila explained how the student groups were receiving very conflicting signals and also that they were planning a public forum at the end of February to insist on transparency and accountability from the McMaster administration.
Focus on Zionism:
Highlights of a Feb. 17th, 2008 article in the Int’l. Herald Tribune about a report from the Israeli media stating that more than 1/3 of Israeli settlements are built on private confiscated Palestinian land.
Here is an audio file of this show: