News Highlights:

• As olive harvest continues, Israeli military and settlers attack Palestinian farmers in village of Kafr Qadum.
• British environmentalist jailed by Israeli forces after being seized on the sidelines of settler rally in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem.
• UNRWA director calls for immediate end to Israeli blockade on Gaza.
• Egypt hands over draft plan for Palestinian national unity, with a meeting set for next month in Cairo.
• Palestinian officials say new Israeli government interest in regional peace is an effort to avoid obligations under the current bilateral talks.

Feature:

A conversation with Mohammed Boudjenane, the executive director of the Canadian Arab Federation, about the new report just released on the torture of Arab Canadians abroad and the complicity of Canadian government departments in that torture. Mohammed talked about the three men who had been wrongfully arrested and tortured in Syria and Egypt (similar to Mahed Arar) and how Canadian security agencies had played a pivotal role in those shameful events. There was discussion about how this fits into the context of racial profiling that occurs on a daily basis here in Canada, and what the response of the Arab Canadian community and its leaders should be.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an Oct. 21st, 2008 interview, carried on Stopthewall.org with the Al Masra coordinator of the Anti-apartheid Wall Campaign, that detailed the obstacles Palestinian farmers were facing.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian teen shot dead by Israeli troops near Ramallah, and several others injured.
• A majority of Palestinians believe the Oslo accords harmed Palestinian national interests, according to a new poll.
• Palestinian olive harvest begins, under increasingly difficult conditions as settler attacks and the wall push farmers off their land.
• Palestinian Israeli legislators criticize the arrest of the Palestinian man who mistakenly drove into the wrong neighbourhood on Yom Kippur in Acre, which resulted in riots by right-wing extremist Israelis.

Feature:

The feature was a special cultural presentation about the Palestinian olive harvest that was recorded in October 2007 by Poets West in Seattle and played on a sister station in Everett, Washington. The presentation included Palestinian poetry read by Hanna Eady, actress Meg Savlov and activist Ed Mast. There was also loud music as well as introductions explaining the importance of the olive harvest, the challenges farmers face due to Israeli restrictions, and Palestinian attachment to the land.

Focus on Zionism:

Due to the length of the feature, there was no Focus on this show.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinians begin annual olive harvest under difficult conditions, including violent attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
• International Solidarity Movement re-establishes its presence in Gaza, and will be based in Rafah to assist Palestinian fishermen and farmers.
• In the past 8 years, Israeli forces have killed 5526 Palestinians including 1010 children under 18 and 340 women and girls.
• Canadian Arab groups call for removal of Liberal MP and candidate Ken Dryden after he publicly calls to stop “all aid to Gaza…while..that will hurt Palestinian civilians…it is the right thing to do”.

Feature:

A live interview with Ali Mustafa, from York University, about an incident of racial profiling at a recent event on campus. Ali explained how only Palestinian students were barred from attending a public event organized by a Zionist student club, featuring the Israeli consul general who was introducing a new campaign from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. There was also discussion of the trend of “re-branding” launched by the Israeli government, in their attempt to improve their international image.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 6th, 2008 Electronic Intifada report about a recent UN report that criticized Israeli abuse of journalists.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• U.N. report says Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank have increased in the last 6 months; total closure for the Jewish New Year has placed even further restrictions on Palestinians right at the end of Ramadan, when family visits are important.
• Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are escalating, as settlers state they are implementing their “price tag” campaign; the most recent victim was a Palestinian shepherd who was executed and shot over 20 times.
• Israeli settlement sewage is contaminating Palestinian water supply, according to the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem.

Feature:

Two members of Jews for a Just Peace JJP were in the studio, in what will be a regular and recurring segment on Voice of Palestine by JJP. In this first special, they talked about the group (www.jewsforajustpeace.com and then about the film, Waltz with Bashir, that they were sponsoring at the Vancouver Int’l. Film Festival. The film, which is an animated feature, deals with the buried memories of Israeli soldiers who were in Lebanon in 1982 and the atrocities that happened there. There was also discussion of a trend in Israeli film, which focuses on the feelings of the Israeli soldiers perpetrating violence against Palestinians, rather than the situation of the Palestinians themselves.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a September 30th, 2008 report from the Christian Science Monitor about the increased violence by Israeli settlers, in particular the pipe bomb attack against an Israeli professor, who is critical of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and a member of Peace Now.

News Highlights:

• 60-year-old Palestinian woman dies in East Jerusalem after being pushed to the ground by Israeli soldiers; Palestinian medical officials say she suffered a skull fracture.
• Free Gaza movement prepares to send another boat to Gaza from Cyprus.
• Palestinian authorities in Gaza say Egyptian border guards are treating Palestinians shamefully at the Rafah crossing the rare times it opens, including taking bribes.
• Palestinian company claims to be investing $500 million into West Bank projects, due to “stability” in the West Bank.

Feature:

A live interview with Eva Bartlett from Ontario about her recent trip to the Middle East and her experiences. Eva, a human rights activist and writer, detailed the focus of this second visit as being the Gazan border crossing at Rafah and Palestinian medical patients in Egyptian hospitals. She talked about the desperate situation of ill Palestinians in Cairo hospitals and also updated us on the Scottish couple that were trying to take urgently needed medical supplied to Gaza. There was discussion of the complicity of the Egyptian government in helping to maintain this inhuman siege on Gaza.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a September 14th, 2008 report from the International Solidarity Movement about how 12 and 13-year-old Palestinians are arrested by Israeli forces, tried in military court and sentenced to ten to twelve months in jail.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Human rights group in Gaza reports on the Israeli siege and the assaults against Gazan fishermen, both violations of the announced ceasefire.
• Israeli police claim to have launched an investigation into a settler rampage against a Palestinian village, but make no arrests and collect no testimony, despite documentation by news and human rights organizations.
• Palestinians mark the 26th anniversary of the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon.
• Desmond Tutu says there is a possibility that the Israeli shelling of a Beit Hanoun neighbourhood in Gaza in 2006 is a “war crime”.

Feature:

A live interview with Carel Moiseiwitsch, a local artist and activist, who just opened a new exhibit at the InterUrban Gallery. Carel talked about the exhibit, which will run through till October 12 (for more info, www.freexero.com). She also detailed two upcoming events, the first a public meeting on Sept. 26/08 at which the defendants (of which she is one) in the CanWest lawsuit over the Vancouver Sun parody that highlighted its pro-Israel bias, will talk about the case (www.seriouslyfreespeech.ca). The second event is a September 27th meeting about Palestinian political prisoners.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a September 12th, 2008 PressTV report about comments by former Israeli education minister Shulamit Aloni condemning the racism and atrocities of the Israeli regime against the Palestinians.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to be indicted in a corruption investigation, as his deputy and possible successor Shaul Mofaz is accused of war crimes by an Israeli law professor.
• Coalition of Palestinian and international NGOs calls the water shortage in the West Bank a “humanitarian crisis”.
• Over a million Palestinian students return to school, but facing severe problems as many schools operate 2 shifts a day, and some students stay home due to economic hardships.

Feature:

A live interview from Palestine with British author Amelia Thomas, about her new book, A Zoo on the Road to Nablus. Amelia talked about her book, which tells the true story of the only Palestinian zoo in Qalqilya in the West Bank, a city totally surrounded on 3 sides by the apartheid wall. She also explained about her other experiences in the occupied territories, and the difficulties with traveling due to the checkpoints and other restrictions. She encouraged listeners to support the Palestinian people in concrete ways, particularly through grassroots projects that directly assist Palestinians.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a September 9th 2008 Haaretz article about how an African American performer was twice forced to perform dance steps by Israeli airport security to prove his identity, because he had a Muslim name.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Two Gazan fishermen injured when Israeli vessels fire on their fishing boats, in a violation of recent ceasefire; Free Gaza activists will be present on the fishing boats and monitoring all Israeli attacks.
• Protests in Palestinian village of Nilin against the apartheid wall continue, as Israeli forces injure a baby and a 9-year-old boy is shot in the head.
• Israeli human rights group Btselem says Israeli military have adopted “reckless firing” of rubber coated steel bullets that have already killed 2 Palestinians so far this year; Israeli forces on Sept. 1 fired 4 such bullets at close range at a mentally disabled man in Nilin.

Feature:

The feature marked 21 years of Voice of Palestine being on the air at Coop Radio, and there was a special interview with Israeli activist and academic Jeff Halper. Jeff was one of the participants on the two boats that recently broke the Israeli blockade on Gaza and he told us how the project came about, his experiences on the ships and how the Palestinian people received them when they arrived at the Gaza shores. He detailed how Israeli forces arrested and charged him when he re-entered Israel and how he may eventually have to serve a jail term.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an August 31st, 2008 United Nations report about increased Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli border police severely beat a young Palestinian from Nilin and seal off the village that has been the focus of anti-apartheid wall protests.
• Two small boats successfully land in Gaza after sailing from Cyprus with international volunteers and challenging the Israeli blockade.
• Longest-held Palestinian prisoner, Said Al Atabeh, returns home to Nablus as part of limited prisoner release and calls for all detainees to be released from Israeli jails.
• Israeli Bar Association issues new report that states there are at least 7 Palestinian detainees held in solitary confinement for five years without any legal status or trial.
• Israeli group Peace Now says more than 2600 settler housing units are under construction in the occupied West Bank and that construction is encroaching on Palestinian cities like Ramallah and Bethlehem.
• Adalah, Arab Israeli human rights group, protests the closure of an Islamic charity in Umm al Fahm in the Galilee.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine, Eyewitness Gaza that highlighted two reports from participants in the two boats that broke the blockade on Gaza (www.freegaza.org). Palestinian American Huwaida Arraf wrote about her experiences on one of the boats, how Israel tried to block all their communications with the outside world and what it meant to the Palestinians to break the siege on Gaza. Osama Qashoo from Cyprus talked about how even his family in the West Bank were threatened because of his participation in the project and how he had received death threats.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an August 28th, 2008 article from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the arrest of Jeff Halper, an Israeli activist and academic, who was also on one of the two boats that sailed into Gaza and was detained when he re-entered Israel.

Here is an audio file of this show: