News Highlights:

• Israel okays 900 more settler housing units in the “Gilo” settlement established on Palestinian land from Beit Jala village.
• Israeli settlers continue to harass Palestinians near Hebron/AlKhalil.
• EU will not back recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN Security Council.
• Palestinian leaders dismiss Israeli threats to seize more territory if they continue with moves at the UN to seek statehood recognition, with Dr. Mustafa Bargouthi saying there’s no more territory left to occupy.
• A new British documentary highlights the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the UK.

Feature:

A live interview with Ms. Huwaida Arraf, a cofounder of the Int’l. Solidarity Movement ISM and Chairperson of the Free Gaza movement, that was the first to break the siege on Gaza by boat. Huwaida talked about the efforts to send another flotilla, despite Israeli authorities grabbing their last boat in international waters and arresting all on board. She also detailed her recent trips to Palestine and updated us on the situation in Gaza and with the Israeli home demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem. Huwaida will be in Canada for a tour from November 23rd – 27th, culminating in a public meeting in Vancouver on November 27th.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Nov. 17th, 2009 story from the Maan News Agency, about a Palestinian woman who was detained and taken to an Israeli prison because she refused to remove her clothes in front of Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian and international activists tore down a small part of the apartheid wall to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, as part of a week of protests.
• Human Rights Watch calls on the Israeli government to immediately stop demolishing Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
• A new report says Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse and denial of basic human rights at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers; childbirth is of particular concern, given the Israeli military restrictions on freedom of movement.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu meets with Barak Obama, with no change in Israel’s position on expanding settlements.

Feature:

An interview direct from Gaza City with Canadian human rights volunteer Eva Bartlett. Eva, a freelance journalist, has been in Gaza for over a year now, and is an eyewitness to the brutal Israeli attacks and siege on the Palestinian population. She talked about the lack of reconstruction, the devastating effects of the siege and the Israeli military harassment of farmers and fishermen trying to eke out a meagre living. There was discussion and criticism of the Canadian government position, especially the latest UN vote against the Goldstone report, and listeners were called on to join the boycott Israel movement and to let the government here know that they do not support Israeli war crimes.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a November 8th, 2009 Xinhua report about the suffering of Gaza’s children, 10 months after the Israeli invasion, and the mental and physical scars that were left on a whole generation of children in Gaza.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• At least 30 Palestinians injured when Israeli police attempt another raid on the Al Aqsa mosque.
• Israeli forces shoot and injure a mentally disabled Palestinian man in the head in Madama village during an arrest raid.
• Palestinian officials accuse the U.S. of destroying any chance of peace talks after they openly back Israel over illegal settlement building.
• International groups raise concern over a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives calling on the White House to oppose endorsement of the Goldstone Report.

Feature:

An Eyewitness Palestine segment, highlighting two on-the-ground reports about the Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in occupied east Jerusalem. The first report was from Sur Baher in occupied Jerusalem and detailed the home demolitions on just one day that had left 26 people homeless. The second was from the Alternative Info Center about the Silwan area and the resistance of the people there to the demolitions, quoting one community leader as saying – “We will Stay Here like the Fig and the Olive Trees”.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 30th, 2009 National Lawyers Guild press release calling on the U.S. government to not block UN Security Council action on the Goldstone report on Gaza.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli police continue to raid AlAqsa mosque, resulting in new clashes with 30 Palestinians injured, including 5 journalists.
• Palestinians in alKhalil/Hebron, along with international and Israeli activists, challenge Israeli settlement expansion.
• Amnesty International says in a new report that Israeli restrictions prevent Palestinians from receiving enough water, and that Israeli per capita water consumption in 4 times that of Palestinians.
• Activists in San Francisco disrupt Ehud Olmert’s speech and make a symbolic “citizens arrest”.

Feature:

A commemoration of the life and legacy of Palestinian Canadian Rezek Faraj, who passed away from cancer on October 24th, 2009. Rezek, who grew up in Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, was a tireless defender of his people’s rights and aspirations. We presented several tributes to him as well as highlights of an interview he did in July 2007 with Voice of Palestine, and concluded with his own words from an interview in Montreal Planet in September 2005.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 27th, 2009 report from the Christian Peacemaker Team about how Israeli settlers harass Palestinian children on their way to school in the occupied West Bank.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian leaders in occupied Jerusalem are being harassed and interrogated by Israeli authorities.
• Palestinian detainee and leader Ahmad Sa’adat is being held in solidarity confinement in Israeli prison, as the campaign to have him freed grows.
• UN Human Rights Council endorses Goldstone report on Israel’s war on Gaza.
• Israel is counting on a U.S. veto to block the progression of the Goldstone report to the UN Security Council.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu says Israel and the U.S. have “solved the matter of the settlements”.

Feature:

A live interview with Dr. Sunera Thobani, an associate professor at UBC, about her recent visit to Palestine. Sunera, a longtime advocate of womens and human rights, explained how she first went to Palestine as a student 25 years ago. She went this year on two visits and detailed what she experienced, what she saw and how things had deteriorated for the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza. She concluded by calling on listeners to continue and increase their advocacy work for justice in Palestine.

Focus on Zionism:

Oct. 17th, 2009 – Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights addresses the European Human Rights Network and details the importance of pursuing the implementation of the Goldstone report.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Int’l Solidarity Institute says the Israeli army killed 15 Palestinians, including 2 children, in September 2009.
• Palestinians in Ni’lin hold their weekly anti-wall protest and also condemn the attacks on the Al Aqsa Mosque.
• Israeli bulldozers demolish more Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
• Turkey calls off an annual air force drill due to Israeli participation.

Feature:

A live phone interview with Beth Raymer from Toronto who was in Palestine for an extended period of time volunteering with the International Womens Peace Service. Beth, who is a journalist, talked about her experiences in the West Bank, and particularly in the village of Hares, which is the IWPS base. She explained how things were deteriorating for the Palestinian population in recent years and detailed the work of the IWPS (www.iwps.info) to help Palestinians in their daily lives and to support non-violent actions to end the illegal and brutal Israeli occupation.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a September 13th, 2009 BBC report about the difficulties faced by Palestinian children in Gaza as they strive to get a proper education, especially after Israel’s recent devastating large-scale attack.

Here is an audio file of this show: