News Highlights:

• Palestinian activists board settler buses in Jerusalem, in an inspiration from the Freedom Riders of the US civil rights movement; all the activists are arrested but later released.
• Palestinian prisoner advocates say Israeli authorities have failed to lift arbitrary restrictions on detainees in Israeli jails, including the extended use of solitary confinement.
• 3 Palestinians were arrested and many others beaten and pepper sprayed by the Israeli military in alWalaja, as villagers and their supporters attempted to prevent the use of large explosives to widen the route of the apartheid wall.

Feature:

Voice of Palestine was joined live in the studio by Dr. John Soos from Vancouver, who had just returned from a trip to occupied Palestine. John explained how he got involved in Palestinian human rights work and talked about his experiences with the traditional olive harvest during this trip. He also detailed how he had interacted with Palestinian mental health officials, being a psychologist by occupation, and different facilities he had visited. John concluded by calling on listeners to get involved, and if at all possible, go over to Palestine to be part of the olive harvest or replanting.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an article by one of the jurors on the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, that concluded Israel subjects Palestinians to an institutionalized regime of domination that amounts to apartheid.

Here is an audio file of this show:

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:

News Highlights:

• UNESCO votes in favour of admitting Palestine as a full member; the US, which voted against the move along with Israel and Canada (amongst others), immediately cuts its funding to the UN body.
• Another Palestinian is killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, bringing the death toll to 12 in two days.

Feature:

The feature was another is our series of Eyewitness Palestine segments, this one highlighting the Palestinian olive harvest, the harassment of Palestinian farmers and the slow recovery of the Gaza olive trade. The feature included two on-the-ground reports, the first by an international volunteer detailing how both Israeli settlers and soldiers disrupt the harvest on Palestinian land in Tel Rumeida near Hebron/AlKhalil. The second report was from the Gaza Strip and carried on the Electronic Intifada and explained how the Gaza olive harvest and trade has been impacted by the Israeli siege and destruction of olive trees and the attempts to recover this centuries old industry.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 20th, 2011 report about the call to European universities to stop their research collaboration with Israeli military companies and Israeli research institutes.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian leader Ahmad Saadat and other prisoners temporarily suspend their hunger strike to see if Israeli officials will keep their promises of ending solitary confinement; Saadat has already lost over 10 kilos and is in the prison hospital.
• Egypt and Israel agree to a prisoner swap, which will see 25 Egyptian prisoners, including 3 children, exchanged for one Israeli-American accused of spying by Egyptian authorities.
• Israel is continuing with its policy of demolishing Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, as one Palestinian man is forced to demolish his own home or face a heavy fine.
• Israeli authorities issue confiscation orders for 37,000 sq metres of Palestinian land in Beit Jala for construction of the separation barrier.

Feature:

The feature was an instudio discussion about Palestinian political prisoners as well as the role of alternative media, and was part of Coop Radio’s fall fundraising marathon. The discussion highlighted limitations with the recent Israel-Hamas prisoner swap and detailed how the exchange was handled by the Western mainstream media. There was also analysis of the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike and whether the demands would actually be implemented as agreed upon. Further discussion centred on the reasons the Israeli government was agreeing to these recent prisoner exchanges, especially after the Arab Spring and how the democracy movements in the region would impact regime changes and election results.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an October 25th, 2011 IMEMC news agency report about how one Palestinian father was being refused permission by Israeli authorities to visit his son, one of the released but deported Palestinian prisoners.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• The prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas goes ahead, but does not include any minors nor at least 8 of the women Palestinian prisoners nor all the top imprisoned leaders.
• Rights groups state the forced exile and deportation by Israel of some of the released Palestinian prisoners constitutes a “serious war crime”.
• Late reports indicate the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike has been suspended after Israeli authorities agreed to end solitary confinement.
• Israeli authorities plan a new illegal settlement on occupied Palestinian land, which will also totally cut off occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Feature:

There was a live interview from Boston with Leila Murad, a community activist there who is working with the Free Tarek Mehanna campaign (www.freetarek.com). Leila talked about FBI repression in general in the Boston area against activists who stand up for the community’s civil rights and also against those who defend the Palestinian people. She gave details of Tarek Mehanna’s case, which is about to go trial. She also noted that Tarek was pressured to become an informant by the FBI and then when he didn’t cooperate, he was suddenly faced with “terrorism charges” and has been in pretrial solitary confinement for almost 2 years.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 15th, 2011 report from the Alternative Info Centre about the hardships faced by Palestinian farming families in Qalqilya due to the Israeli Separation Wall.

Here is an audio file of this show: