News Highlights:

• Oxfam says Israel is denying the access of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as its director notes that emergency fundraising alone will not solve the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
• Israel announces 3500 more settling housing units in the occupied West Bank.
• Spanish courts are hearing war crimes charges for 7 Israeli officials.
• Belgium’s government will ban the export of weapons to Israel that will “strengthen its military capacity”; Israel is the 4th largest importer of Belgium arms in the Middle East.

Feature:

An interview with Harry Berbrayer, a Jewish Canadian activist from Vancouver Island, who recently returned from a trip to Palestine. Harry explained that he was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, how he had previously supported the Israeli point of view, and only changed after making a trip to the region in late 1998 and seeing for himself what was actually happening to the Palestinian people. On this last trip, he visited the occupied West Bank and said that the people there were becoming increasingly frustrated with the Mahmoud Abbas regime, especially as the Gaza massacres unfolded. Harry encouraged listeners to get active, to write the media and to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a February 3rd, 2009 press release from the South African trade union central about the decision by South African dock workers to not offload a ship from Israel.

News Highlights:

• U.S. envoy George Mitchell arrives in the region, shortly before an Israeli airstrike on Gaza and border clashes.
• Egypt continues ceasefire negotiations as Hamas calls for a one-year truce with guarantees the siege on Gaza will end.
• The Gaza humanitarian appeal which BBC refused to broadcast, raised over 600,000 pounds before it was even aired on other stations.
• Israeli human rights group Yesh Din calls for the dismissal of the army’s chief rabbi, due to a racist booklet he distributed to troops.
• Israel will give legal protection to its soldiers accused of war crimes.

Feature:

An interview with Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper, who was in Vancouver as part of a cross-Canada tour. Jeff detailed the horrific effects of the recent Israeli military campaign against the Palestinians of Gaza, the war crimes charges that may follow and also spoke about the upcoming Israeli elections. He told us about how successful his tour had been in other parts of Canada and how public opinion seemed to be shifting after Israel’s aggression in Gaza.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a January 27th, 2009 open letter from Quebec professors and university employees calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

News Highlights:

• Two Palestinian children killed by an Israeli explosive left behind during Israeli’s assault on Gaza, which killed 1415 Palestinians and wounded thousands more.
• Doctors at an Egyptian hospital are overwhelmed with the number of Palestinian children arriving with bullet wounds to the head; the trauma team says the wounds indicate that the children were shot at close range, and the few who will survive will be paralysed.
• Amnesty Int’l. details Israel’s use of white phosphorous in densely populated residential areas in Gaza.

Feature:

An interview with Jewish American author and academic Norman Finkelstein about his upcoming trip to Vancouver. Norman spoke about Israel’s recent offensive on Gaza, which he termed a massacre, and said he felt Israel was trying to reclaim their “deterrence capacity”. He also noted that mainstream Jewish support for Israel and the Zionist project was crumbling and the Gaza assault may have been a turning point for the traditional support in North America that the Israeli government counts on.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a January 18th, 2009 Ynet report about a Palestinian girl found wounded and shell-shocked in an abandoned apartment after her relatives had thought she had died.

News Highlights:

• The Palestinian death toll in Gaza is close to 1000, with over 4000 wounded, as the Israeli military continues its indiscriminate attacks.
• Two Norwegian doctors say they suspect Gaza is being used as a “test laboratory for new weapons”, after working in Shifa Hospital for 10 days.
• Canadian activists condemn the Canadian government position to vote against the UN Human Rights Council motion calling for an end to the Israeli assault on Gaza.
• At least 10 young Israeli soldiers have refused their military service and are going to jail for their conscientious stand.
• Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel Beiteinu party, says Israel should copy the U.S. in WW11 and drop nuclear bombs.

Feature:

An interview direct from Gaza City with Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency UNRWA. Adnan briefed us about the horrific situation in Gaza, the attacks on UN personnel and the suffering of the Palestinian population. He also detailed how the majority of Gaza’s people are 1948 refugees, and have already been traumatized several times over. Adnan concluded by calling on people to assist the Palestinians with material aid, but also to help the Palestinian refugees attain their inalienable rights.

Focus on Zionism:

A moving account by a young Palestinian in Jabalya Refugee Camp in Gaza, distributed on January 13th by the Middle East Childrens Alliance.

News Highlights:

• At least 42 Palestinian women and children killed when Israeli tank opens fire outside a UN-run school in Gaza, where they were taking shelter.
• Israel is using the controversial white phosphorous shells that cause severe injury to anyone caught beneath them.
• Norwegian doctor in Gaza called the situation catastrophic and stated that Israeli government statements that they are not targeting civilians are “lies”.
• CUPE Ontario’s university workers considering ban on Israeli academics due to the Israeli bombing of the university in Gaza City.
• Venezuela expels the Israeli ambassador to protest Israel’s attack on Gaza.

Feature:

An interview direct from Gaza City with Dr. Haidar Eid, a professor and co-founder of the One Democratic State Group. Dr. Eid gave us the horrific details of what is happening on the ground around him, and talked about the civilian deaths and the destruction. He was very critical of the U.S. government and the Arab regimes, and felt the complicity of all of them would provoke a public outcry in the Arab world. Dr. Eid concluded by calling on peace-loving people to join the global Boycott Israel movement and speak out against the Israeli aggression.

Focus on Zionism:

A new press release from the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom, saying that the Israeli government has doomed “a whole generation of young Israelis to become war criminals”.