News Highlights:

• Palestinian detainee Akram al Rekhawi ends his hunger strike with an agreement for early release, but 5 Palestinian political prisoners are still on hunger strike ranging from 13-67 days.
• Israeli settlers repeatedly attack a group of Palestinians and international volunteers from Operation Dove.
• Israeli media reports that Israel plans to demolish 8 Palestinian villages to make way for army training grounds.

Feature:

A live interview with John Max Soos, a local clinical and peace psychologist, about his recent trip to Gaza and his fundraising project for the Palestinian fishermen in Gaza. John detailed his trip in March of this year when he participated in a UN marathon, visited with mental health professionals and spent time with the Gazan fishermen. John noted the resilence of the Palestinians in Gaza as they cope with the physical and mental traumas of the occupation and explained that staff there are trying to help people cope so they can be better equipped to effect change against the brutal Israeli siege. He also talked about the project that sends a monitoring ship out with the Palestinian fishermen and how he raised money to help replace their radio.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Two more Palestinian political prisoners go on hunger strike, bringing the current number to 5, after the deal made to end the mass hunger strike in April is not fully honored by Israeli prison authorities.
• Israeli military officials claim the UN agency giving tents to dispossessed Palestinians is engaging in “illegal operations”.
• A Palestinian village suffers a 10 day power blackout because it is cut off by the separation wall and the Israeli checkpoint refuses to allow mechanics and equipment through to repair the village generator.

Feature:

A live interview with Rich Forer, a Jewish American author and commentator, about the Zionist censure of Jewish critics as well as his new articles and book. Rich detailed how the Zionist lobby uses the charges of anti-Semitism and Jewish self-hatred to silence any dissent over Israeli policies, especially amongst progressive Jewish people. He explained how he felt these tactics are intentionally used to avoid any thoughtful discussion of the issues that might prompt people to question long-held assumptions about Israel/Palestine. He called on people to continue trying to inform the public in North America about the injustices against the Palestinians, including through Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 17th, 2012 report from the Maan news agency about the brutal treatment of a Palestinian teen during an Israeli arrest raid, that resulted in serious injuries including a broken jaw for Mahmoud al Badan.

News Highlights:

• A Palestinian demonstrator is injured by Israeli forces and many others suffer the effects of tear gas, as Bilin marks the 8th anniversary of the Hague ruling on the illegality of Israel’s apartheid wall.
• Palestinian detainee Mahmoud Sarsak is finally released by Israeli authorities after 96 days on hunger strike; Sarsak, a member of Palestine’s national soccer team, has his case taken up by many international groups including FIFA.
• An Israeli government-appointed committee recommends granting official status to the unauthorized settler outposts.

Feature:

A live interview with Bruce Katz from Montreal, one of the cofounders of Palestinian and Jewish Unity PAJU, about the group’s objectives and recent boycott campaigns. Bruce told us how he and the late Palestinian Canadian Rezek Faraj had formed PAJU and the activities of the groups, including many years of picketing the Israeli consulate in Montreal and now weekly pickets of the Naot shoe store. He also detailed the racist attacks members of the group had experienced during the pickets and the lack of response by both police and official institutions.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 9th, 2012 Maan News Agency report about the Palestinian village of al Numan that is being choked by Israel’s apartheid wall.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian detainee Akram Rikhawi is in critical condition after 83 days on hunger strike, as Israeli authorities refuse requests from doctors from Physicians for Human Rights Israel to visit.
• Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrate in Ramallah for the 3rd day, protesting PA police brutality and planned talks by Palestinian officials with Israeli VP Shaul Mofaz.
• ANC members call for a full boycott of all Israeli products in South Africa.

Feature:

A live interview with Kathy Copps, a local activist who just returned from a trip to Gaza as part of the Vancouver2Gaza delegation. Kathy, who works with the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign and the Seriously Free Speech Committee and is a retired educator, talked about what she saw and experienced in Gaza. She detailed the meetings held with different grassroots organizers, noted the schools and educational institutions she had visited, as well as articulating the profound impact the trip had on her. She concluded by calling on listeners to do whatever they can to continue to assist the Palestinian people and pressure the Canadian government to stop its biased support of Israel.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 2nd, 2012 commentary by musician Roger Waters, calling on the Presbyterian Church USA to support divestment from Israel’s occupation by passing a motion to boycott 3 companies complicit in that occupation.

News Highlights:

• Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 15 Palestinians, including a 4 year old boy, before a new ceasefire is finally agreed upon.
• Israeli prison authorities raid the cells of detainees who participated in the mass hunger strike, and force strip-searches on the prisoners.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the region, meets with Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem and criticizes Israeli settlement expansion, after seeing Israeli officials.

Feature:

The feature was a tribute to the late David Noble, a former professor at York University, who was one of the first to challenge the pro-Israel lobby here in Canada in a very direct way. Prof. Noble launched a lawsuit against the University, exposing its bias towards the Israel lobby and against pro-Palestinian activists on campus. We presented a speech he gave at a conference at McMaster University in April 2006 in which he detailed his lawsuit, the reasons behind it and his hopes for the future.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of two reports, one from a June 24th, 2012 dispatch of Gulfnews.com, quoting a former Israeli soldier who explains how the Israeli army is increasingly using random Palestinian villages for live training, and the second from the June 26th, 2012 Guardian newspaper about a report from UK lawyers regarding Israel’s treatment of Palestinian child prisoners.

Here is an audio file of this show: