News Highlights:

• Palestinian lawyers that helped draft the Palestinian constitution accuse Mahmoud Abbas of overstepping his powers in appointing his emergency government.
• Dr. Mustafa Bargouthi says Israel is endangering the lives of 6000 Palestinians trapped at the Rafah crossing.
• UN report criticizes Israel’s separation wall for totally separating East Jerusalem from the West Bank and says half of the planned route is already constructed.
• Britain’s Transport and General Workers Union joins the growing list of British unions supporting the move to boycott Israel.
• Arab League delegation will meet in Israel on July 12th for the first time ever.

Feature:

Two special guests were in the studio, Maryem Tollar and Ehab Lotayef, who were just wrapping up a tour of B.C. Maryem is an Arab-Canadian singer and musician and Ehab is a poet and activist. They talked about their performances at three different venues around the province and how positive the response had been. Maryem, who sings both in Arabic and English, as well as playing the kanoon or Arabic table harp, explained why she started singing songs for peace and justice in Palestine and the Middle East and the collaboration with Ehab, whose poems often became the lyrics for her music. Ehab also told us about his trips to Iraq and Palestine and how they had impacted his views and his poetry.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 9th, 2007 press release from the Trade Union Friends of Palestine, detailing how the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, representing all unions in Ireland, had just passed two motions critical of Israel and called for a wide range of measures including boycott and divestment to oppose Israel’s oppressive policies.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Appointed Palestinian Authority cabinet will pay full salaries to government workers, but excludes those hired by the previous elected government since 2006.
• Senior Fateh official and adviser of Mahmoud Abbas, Hani al Hassan, is “fired” for criticizing the collaborators within the Fateh leadership that are serving American and Israeli interests.
• Israeli troops carry out 248 attacks against Palestinian Red Crescent personnel in the first half of 2007.
• Israeli and Palestinian security officials meet for the first time in 2 years, as the appointed Palestinian government arrests and detains dozens of Hamas members.
• United Nations Human Rights Council votes to make Israel’s actions a permanent agenda item, with the sole dissenting vote coming from Canada.

Feature:

A live interview with Dr. Amani Abu Rahmeh from Gaza, a member of the One Democratic State Association and the National Campaign for the Boycott of Apartheid Israel. Dr. Abu Rahmeh spoke about the failure of the Oslo process and how it had been a disaster for the Palestinian people, both in Palestine and in diaspora. She updated us on the current situation and confirmed that some PA workers were not receiving their salaries based on supposed “political loyalties”. She also explained how desperate living conditions in Gaza were becoming, and called on people to support the international boycott movement against Israel.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a July 2nd, 2007 Haaretz article about how Mordecai Vanunu, the Israeli anti-nuclear activist, is returned to jail for six months for “violating his parole”, which bans him from leaving the country and talking to any foreigners without approval.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Oxfam condemns the aid blockade of Gaza and criticizes the international community for using aid as a political weapon.
• Four way regional summit in Egypt produces little and is denounced by many Palestinians as too partisan and avoiding the important issues.
• Mustafa Bargouthi says Israel wants to weaken all Palestinian factions and create isolated cantons; he criticizes Israel’s statements at the regional summit in Egypt.
• Farouk Qaddoumi, head of the PLO political department and Fateh leader, says the Palestinian Authority is an “illegal and illusory” authority and states Mahmoud Abbas has misused his powers.
• Israel continues expansion of Alon Mureh settlement near Nablus, destroying Palestinian farmland and polluting nearby water sources.

Feature:

A live interview with Prof. Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and Director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, the first in our series of interviews with leading Palestinians to discuss the current situation. Prof. Khalidi discussed the failure of Oslo, the corruption in the PA and whats next for the Palestinian secular movement. He also talked about the feasibility of the one-state solution and his new book “Iron Cage: The story of the Palestinian struggle for Statehood”.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a report by Israeli peace group Machsom Watch on June 21st, 2007 about the arbitrary refusal to allow farmers to pass through an Israeli checkpoint at Beit Furiq.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinians in Gaza try to stock up on basics, as Israel cuts fuel supplies to Gaza and UN officials warn of an impending humanitarian disaster if the Israeli siege continues.
• Mahmoud Abbas appoints new pro-Western cabinet, headed by Salam Fayad, after dissolving the unity government; Hamas officials say the move is illegal.
• Hundreds of Palestinians, including elderly and sick people, stranded at the Erez crossing border between Gaza and Israel, after Israeli officials close it on Saturday.
• New Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is planning an all-out attack on Gaza soon.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine/instudio discussion about the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and what might happen next. Two opinion pieces by Palestinians were presented, one from Karma Nabulsi carried in the British Guardian calling on Palestinians to dissolve the PA and reconvene the PLO and the Palestine National Council, and the other from Khalid Amayreh from Hebron/Alkhalil, saying that the majority of Palestinians will not accept this new quisling government. The instudio discussion concluded by telling listeners that the show will be dedicated in the near future to presenting the voices and ideas of secular Palestinians, both from Palestine and the diaspora, with their views on how to proceed now.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of the leaked document by retiring UN official Alvaro de Soto, carried in the Asian Tribune on June 18th, 2007, with his scathing comments on the pro-Western UN role in hampering any hopes for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Violent clashes continue between Hamas and Fateh militants in Gaza as 21 Palestinians die in 72 hours; secondary students have difficulty completing their final exams due to the fighting.
• EU agrees to resume aid to the Palestinian Authority, and calls on Israel to release Palestinian tax money it is refusing to transfer.
• Palestinian detainee, Maher Ata Dandan, dies on June 11 in an Israeli jail after being denied treatment for heart problems.
• Israeli High Court has ordered officials to explain why Israel bars Palestinians from using an important highway running from Jerusalem through the West Bank.

Feature:

An interview with Jayce Salloum, a Lebanese-Canadian filmmaker, about his upcoming showing at the Pacific Cinematique in downtown Vancouver on June 14. Jayce, one of the leading Arab-Canadian artists in doing films on “taboo” subjects, explained that the showing will consist of three shorts, two on the Middle East, and the third his latest film on the First Nations people of what is now Kelowna, where Jayce grew up. This film was originally commissioned by the City of Kelowna as part of their centennial celebrations and was then rejected by them as “not celebratory enough”.

Focus on Zionism:

A June 12th, 2007 press release from the Israeli Cmte. Against Home Demolitions, explaining how an American Jewish person had donated $1.5 million to help rebuild demolished Palestinian homes.

Here is an audio file of this show: