News Highlights:

• Gaza Strip’s only power plant is forced to shut down due to the Israeli blockade on fuel and other basic supplies; doctors fear for the lives of hospital patients, including premature babies.
• Israeli human rights groups deplore the Israeli blockade, and say this collective punishment is a “crime against humanity”.
• Jan. 19th – Israeli military kill 9 Palestinians, including four civilians, three of them women, during air strikes and injure another 57 people.
• Mahmoud Abbas insists negotiations with Israel should continue, despite growing opposition from Palestinians; he and appointed PM Fayyad also offer to take over the Gaza crossings without Hamas.
• Palestinian protesters manage to take over the Gaza Rafah crossing with Egypt, pushing their way past Egyptian police, and rushing to get food supplies.

Feature:

A live interview with Cindy and Craig Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, the American student murdered by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting home demolitions in Rafah, Gaza. Cindy and Craig talked about the Vancouver premiere of the play My Name is Rachel Corrie, running at the Havana Theatre until Feb. 9th, 2008 (www.neworldtheatre.com) and also updated us on what other cities and countries the play has been performed in as well as efforts by pro-Israeli forces to censor it, especially in North America. The play is even scheduled to open in Haifa on March 16 of this year, the 5th anniversary of Rachel’s death. The Corries then talked about the work of their foundation as well as the progress of their lawsuit against Caterpillar, which supplies the Israeli government with the bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes.

Focus on Zionism:

Due to the length and importance of the interview, Focus was postponed for this one show.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli forces kill 17 Palestinians, including 5 civilians, during the latest invasion into Gaza City.
• Gazan doctors say there are also many wounded, and question if Israel is using the banned “flechette” shells.
• Hamas leaders criticize the Arab regimes that are cooperating and meeting with the U.S. and Israel.
• Canada’s foreign minister refuses to specifically condemn the Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land in “Har Homa”, a settlement that Canada’s Reichmann family helped fund 10 years ago.
• The Palestinian Legislative Council PLC speaker criticizes plans by the PLO Central Council to dissolve the PLC and says its is illegal under Palestinian law.

Feature:

A live interview with Simon Shaheen, a renowned Palestinian musician who is coming to play in B.C. on January 27th, 2008. Simon told us about how he grew up in a musical Palestinian family and also the obstacles he faced as a second-class citizen in Israel. In fact, he currently has a lawsuit against the Israeli government for the confiscation of family land. He returns every year to his hometown to offer music workshops for Palestinian youth, as well as running an Arab music retreat in the U.S. for musicians from around the world to learn the intricacies of classical Arab music. Simon is set to perform on January 27th, 8 pm at Capilano College Theatre.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a January 14th, 2008 report on www.electronicintifada.net documenting how Volvo equipment is also being used to demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and in the construction of the illegal apartheid wall.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli human rights group Btselem releases year-end report, saying 373 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in 2007, 53 of them minors; although this number is lower than 2006, human rights conditions continue to deteriorate in the occupied territories.
• According to Btselem, Palestinians held in administrative detention increased to an average number of 830; house demolitions in East Jerusalem increased; checkpoints and roadblocks continue to restrict freedom of movement for Palestinians.
• Israeli forces freed the youngest Palestinian detainee, Majed Jaradat, just 13 years old.
• Egypt’s foreign minister warns Israel not to try to undermine Egypt’s ties with the U.S., as Egyptian-Israeli relations continue to be strained.

Feature:

The Voice of Palestine collective did its annual year-in-review for events in 2007 and looked ahead to 2008. The panel felt that a leading story in 2007 were the developments in Gaza, the horrific embargo and siege, and the Fateh-Hamas conflict, which has killed almost as many Palestinians as direct Israeli attacks. We looked back at our review the year before and panelists had predicted then that the U.S. strategy of fomenting civil war would be prominent in the whole region. For 2007, the issue of decreasing Jewish immigration to Israel was also discussed, as well as many positive developments, especially in the global boycott and divestment movement. The panel concluded by saying that 2008 would most likely bring dramatic changes in the Palestinian political scene, which continues to see Mahmoud Abbas’ regime implementing the U.S.-Israel agenda with very little to show for it and discontent continuing to grow in the occupied territories.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Jan 1st, 2008 story from the Christian Peacemakers Team in Hebron (alKhalil) talking about the “seam lines” that exist all over the region.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Roman Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah criticizes exclusivism and occupation in the Holy Land in his Xmas message in Bethlehem.
• Israel blocks Arab clergy from reaching their churches in Bethlehem and elsewhere in the West Bank, due to new travel restrictions.
• Israel announces plans to build even more settler housing, on the eve of post-Annapolis negotiations.
• Palestinian officials condemn the settlement expansion and say it will jeopardize any progress.
• Israeli PM Ehud Olmert rules out ceasefire talks with Hamas and the Israeli deputy PM states the Israeli government wants to topple Hamas in Gaza.

Feature:

A live interview from Toronto with Aya Abou Taha from the Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation. Aya had just returned from a trip to Palestine, where she had volunteered with Project Hope in the refugee camps around Nablus. She spoke about her experiences, how the occupation and deprivation were affecting the Palestinian children in the camps, and about the daily grind of the Israeli military checkpoints. Aya concluded by talking about Necef’s projects, all tax-deductible, including an emergency campaign for Gaza.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Dec. 21st, 2007 Al-Jazeera report from Gaza City about the dialysis patients in Gazan hospitals suffering because of the Israeli blockade on spare parts for the dialysis machines.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinians mourn the 11 people killed in Israeli air raids, and Arab analysts believe the raids make a mockery of the Annapolis conference.
• Donors pledge $7 billion for the Palestinians in Paris, although previous pledges have fallen far short of money delivered.
• Israeli Foreign Minister working to avoid any international criticism over its increased settlement expansion, most recently in Har Homa.
• Most Arab foreign ministers attend the Paris conference and want a statement calling for Israel to remove roadblocks and stop settlement construction.
• Mahmoud Abbas says he would agree to the deployment of an international force in Palestine, after it was suggested at the Paris conference.
• Israel signs free trade agreement with the South American trade bloc, Mercosur.

Feature:

The feature was a live interview with Mazin Qumsiyeh www.qumsiyeh.org, a Palestinian American professor, scientist and activist. Mazin spoke about the current political developments and the futility of the recent conferences at Annapolis and Paris, which had avoided all the main issues. Mazin also talked about his new book, Sharing the Land of Canaan. He concluded by detailing the situation on the ground in the Bethlehem area, where he was born and visits often, and told the story of his elderly mother who is now unable to visit a church in Jerusalem where she annually used to light a candle after Mazin survived a childhood illness.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Dec. 15th, 2007 Washington Post story about how students at the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza could no longer use their hearing aids because the Israeli siege bans all batteries from entering the Gaza Strip.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian negotiators call for freeze on Israeli settlements after Israel issues a tender for more settlement construction in “Har Homa”.
• EU criticizes the Israeli settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territory.
• Israeli human rights groups support the call to end the siege on Gaza, as the Israeli blockade intensifies.
• Seriously ill Palestinian baby boy is dying in a Gaza hospital due to the Israeli siege, according to his paediatrician Dr. Shakat.
• 6 Palestinians killed and 19 wounded during Israeli ground attack near Rafah.
• Saudi Arabia and Egypt push for talks between Hamas and Fateh, to resolve the rift between the Palestinian groups.

Feature:

Another in our series of Eyewitness Palestine, Eyewitness Gaza, detailing the horrific conditions for the Palestinian population suffering under the Israeli blockade. The first report was from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a respected Palestinian NGO, that talked about the impact on health care and the unnecessary deaths of patients because of the Israeli siege. They condemned this “massive violation of international law” and the silence of the international community. The second report was carried on http://www.electronicintifada.net and highlighted statements from the World Food Program that said only 41% of Gaza’s food import needs are being met.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a Dec. 10th, 2007 report from the International Solidarity Movement about the constant Israeli raids into the village of Azzoun, which village leaders feel is a pretext to seal Azzoun off and annex more land.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israel is planning to install underground sensors to further tighten the closure on Gaza.
• Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Bargouthi calls Israel’s prisoner release “a joke”, as Israel releases around 400 Palestinian detainees set to be freed soon anyway.
• Israeli cabinet approves Annapolis declaration, and cabinet minister claim success in keeping core issues and international involvement out of the process.
• Israeli PM Olmert says he is not bound by the Annapolis deadlines.

Special Feature:

An extended interview with Dr. Haidar Eid from Gaza, who teaches at Al Aqsa University and is a cofounder of the One Democratic State Association. Dr. Eid updated listeners on the current conditions in Gaza and the effects of the crippling siege, especially on medical services. He also talked about how Palestinians want a just peace, and how his group feels the only solution left is a single secular democratic state where everyone has equal rights.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Nov. 29th, 2007 dispatch from the IMEMC news service about Israeli harassment of a small Palestinian village, Bardalah, in the Jordan Valley.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian demonstrator killed by PA security forces in the West Bank, as thousands defy ban on anti-Annapolis rallies.
• Tens of thousands of Palestinians rally in Gaza to also protest the U.S.-led summit.
• Three Palestinians killed in Gaza in two Israeli airstrikes on Nov. 26th, 2007; close to 100 Palestinians, including many civilian passersby, were killed by Israel since June, 2007.
• Palestinian analysts say the Annapolis summit will produce nothing meaningful and that the only agreement is to begin talks.
• Reports have appeared in Israeli newspapers saying there is a “serious document” outlining alternatives to liquidate the Palestinian right of return.

Feature:

The special feature marked the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Partition Plan, which was the beginning of the Palestinian Al Nakba. Highlights of a speech by Hanna Kawas, given at the second Annual Palestine Lives Conference at McMaster University, were presented. The presentation focused on the history of the Partition Plan and the immediate period after it, and in particular, the Canadian role in facilitating the Palestinian dispossession.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a Nov. 26th, 2007 ISM report from Tulkarem about a young Palestinian man that had been granted “amnesty” by the Israeli military and was then shot dead in a coffee shop by Israeli soldiers.

Here is an audio file of this show: