News Highlights:

• Israel wages large-scale incursion into southern Gaza, killing at least 4 Palestinians, including a 70-year-old woman who was trying to help her injured son.
• Human rights groups in Gaza call on the international community to provide protection for the Palestinian people in Gaza from the Israeli army.
• U.N. official says Gaza risks becoming 100% aid dependent due to isolation from Israeli border closings.
• Governor of Bethlehem, Salah Tamari said Israel is increasing the number of checkpoints around Bethlehem and destroying Palestinians’ daily lives.
• Hamas’ Executive Force in Gaza bans any form of demonstrations or celebrations without prior permission; the move is criticized by many human rights groups and Palestinian leaders, including some Hamas legislators.

Feature:

An Eyewitness Palestine, Eyewitness Gaza with three different reports on the rapidly deteriorating situation for Palestinians in Gaza. The first was part of a press release entitled Gaza is Starving, issued by several progressive Gazan groups, highlighting the cruelty of the siege, especially in the hot summer months living without access to proper water and electricity services. The second was highlights of a BBC report from one of their reporters who had just travelled through Gaza and concluded it was a jail for its people. The last was a more personal account by Leila al Haddad, a Palestinian freelance journalist, who told of her harrowing attempts to leave Gaza just before the gates slammed shut. She questioned how these horrific events could be happening with so little protest.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Palestine Red Crescent report about a 75-year-old Palestinian woman who suffered a heart attack and later died after Israeli guards refused to allow the ambulance access to her village.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Ismail Haniyeh says West Bank officials are responsible for the conditions at the Israeli-controlled Al Awja crossing into Gaza which was just opened in a new agreement; reports indicate the crossing is being used to force Palestinians to be collaborators.
• Palestinian teen dies at the Rafah border crossing, waiting to cross into Gaza.
• Britain may seek the extradition of the Israeli troops who killed British cameraman James Miller in 2003.
• Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas meet in Jericho, supposedly to prepare for the U.S.-sponsored summit in November.
• Israeli human rights group Btselem issues new report condemning Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank.

Feature:

Voice of Palestine introduced a new regular feature entitled Palestine We Remember to keep alive the Palestinian history that the world seems so intent on destroying and forgetting. This first one was dedicated to the 31st anniversary of the destruction of the Tel al Zaatar refugee camp in Beirut that was literally razed to the ground after 55 days of siege and shelling. Several renditions of Mahmoud Darweesh’s famous poem Ahmad Zaatar were presented, with the poetry in English, Arabic and set to music. Part of the open letter sent during the siege by the residents of the camp to the Arab foreign ministers was also highlighted. The introduction to the special drew the parallels between this tragic history, and what is happening now, and the international silence at both times.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a British Times report about a 5-year-old Palestinian girl paralyzed from the neck down by an Israeli missile, whom the Israeli army is now trying to deprive of the specialized medical care she needs.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Human rights groups call for the immediate opening of the Rafah crossing at the Gaza border, indicating that 20 people have already died waiting to return to Gaza.
• Int’l. Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists Union both criticize the action by Hamas militants in seizing Palestinian newspapers; some Hamas legislators also condemn the violation of press freedom.
• For the first time, the appointed Palestinian Authority cabinet publishes a policy platform that drops resistance to Israeli occupation as a basic principle.
• Another Palestinian political prisoner dies in an Israeli jail from lack of medical attention.
• Hamas official releases documents showing that Mahmoud Abbas’ government was corrupt financially.
• Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak calls for scorning of draft dodgers, after new report shows that a quarter of all draft-age males are not enlisted in the army.

Feature:

A live interview with Palestinian-American professor Dr. George Bisharat from California. Dr. Bisharat talked about his family history, and why he got involved in the Palestinian struggle. He explained that he felt the two-state solution sells the Palestinians short and also called for supporting the boycott and divestment campaign against Israel. Dr. Bisharat also discussed how he was the target of prominent Zionist groups and why they seemed threatened by his writings and activities.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 30th, 2007 article in the Israeli news website Ynet about five Israeli soldiers who were not held responsible for their part in critically wounding a Palestinian civilian because they stated they were only carrying out orders.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israel released more than 250 Palestinian political prisoners, the vast majority from Fateh.
• Most prisoners were forced to sign a pledge to stop resistance actions against Israel with the exception of a top leader of the PFLP.
• Abdulrahim Mallouh, deputy secretary-general of the PFLP said at a press conference after his release that all factions were responsible for the current divisions.
• Palestinian Legislative Council once again failed to achieve a quorum in order to hold a session, this time to vote on the appointed emergency government.
• Canada resumes aid to the appointed Palestinian Authority government, sending $8 million in direct aid.
• Dr. Mustafa Bargouthi condemns Israeli expansion of settlements and the attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinian farmers.

Feature:

An interview with Dr. Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian living in Britain, who is an author and activist. Dr. Karmi, a medical doctor by training, has had many articles published in The Guardian and other papers, as well as publishing several books, including her latest from Pluto Press, “Married to Another Man: Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine”. Dr. Karmi explained why she felt the Oslo process had failed and how the current internal Palestinian divisions hurt the Palestinians more than their enemies. She concluded by calling on people to discuss and commit to the concept of a single secular democratic state in Israel/Palestine.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a July 9th, 2007 article from www.imemc.org about a Palestinian teenage girl who was barred by the Israeli occupation from travelling with her folklore troupe to a festival in Qatar.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints new caretaker government after the 30-day mandate of the first one expired, despite many experts questioning the legality of such a move.
• Mahmoud Abbas makes a deal with Israel, that Israel will stop pursuing 178 “wanted” Fateh activists if they sign a pledge to stop resistance actions against Israel and disarm.
• Salam Fayyad, the appointed Palestinian PM, calls on the Palestinian Legislative Council to meet and pass a vote of confidence in his “emergency government”.
• Human rights groups call for investigation into the deaths of two Palestinians while in the custody of Hamas militias.
• Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish criticizes both Fateh and Hamas in a recent lecture in Haifa.

Feature:

Voice of Palestine continued with its series of secular Palestinian voices to discuss what’s next for the Palestinian movement. This week, there was a live interview with Rezek Faraj from Montreal, a Palestinian Canadian author and activist. Rezek had just released a statement outlining his thoughts on the current situation and joined us to talk about why he thought Oslo had failed and how the Palestinians must act quickly to regain their independent decision-making. The interview concluded with Rezek invoking the words of the late Edward Said, when he stated that the international solidarity with the Palestinians is based on their cause being a just cause and a moral quest for equality and human rights.

Focus on Zionism:

Focus was postponed due to the length of the interview.

Here is an audio file of this show: