News Highlights:

• Palestinian PM calls again for an end to the internal fighting in Gaza, as both Hamas and Fateh agree to go to Saudi Arabia for a truce summit.
• Russian foreign minister accuses outside forces of fuelling the factional Palestinian clashes.
• Israeli foreign minister says the “diplomatic process” will go into a deep freeze if Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas reaches agreement with Hamas.
• Palestinian suicide bomber kills three people in the first such attack since Aprilth, 2006.
• Human Rights Watch calls for U.S. to cut off cluster bomb sales to Israel after new report shows Israel violated agreements; HRW says Israel’s use of cluster bombs in Lebanon was the most extensive since 1991.

Feature:

A live interview with Keith Reynolds, a Canadian peace activist recently returned from a trip to Palestine. Keith works with Medical Aid for Palestine and talked about his project building playgrounds for Palestinian children. He also discussed what he saw and heard on his trip, in Jenin, Bethlehem and other towns, and described the worsening situation for the Palestinian population. Keith attended the weekly demos in the village of B’ilin and spoke about the violent response of the Israeli military in dealing with the protestors, be they Palestinians, Israelis or internationals.

Focus on Zionism:

Focus included two updates on the global Boycott Israel movement; firstly, how an Ontario Council was honouring the boycott against Chapters/Indigo for their support of the Israeli military and secondly, part of the press release from the Food and Allied Workers in S. Africa explaining their boycott of Israeli products.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Jan. 19th – Abir Aramin, 10 years old, from Anata is declared brain dead after being attacked by Israeli border police on her way home from school.
• Israeli military admits that the 44 “dirt roadblocks” it claimed to have recently removed did not actually exist.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khalid Meshal meet in Damascus, to focus on ending factional clashes and try to form a unity government.
• Canadian foreign minister Peter MacKay makes four day visit to the Middle East, and holds joint press conference with Israeli foreign minister in which he seems to endorse abandoning right of return for Palestinians; MacKay also visits Aida refugee camp and says he has concerns over the route of the separation wall.
• MacKay snubs Palestinian foreign minister, who says Canada is at risk of becoming an enemy of the Palestinian and Arab people by participating in the economic boycott.

Feature:

A live interview with Khalid Amayreh, a Palestinian journalist from Hebron/AlKhalil. After several attempts, the show was able to finally hook up with Amayreh, who gave an impassioned description of the horrific day-to-day situation of the Palestinians in the area. The settler attacks on the Palestinian civilian population have been well documented, including with a recent amateur video, and the negligence of the Israeli military towards these attacks is also an issue. Khalid was sceptical of the belated response from the Israeli establishment, who are now claiming they want to protect Palestinians, saying they had heard all this before and the situation keeps getting worse.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a Jan. 21st, 2007 report about a family in Hebron whose living room is literally being used as a pathway by the racist settlers in the area.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli military invade Nablus and the Balata refugee camp, damaging homes and arresting 11 Palestinians; university female student also grabbed at a checkpoint.
• U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visits region, and plans for summit with Israeli PM and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
• Palestinian officials, including Abbas, reject U.S./Israeli idea of “temporary state”.
• Israeli human rights group criticizes Israeli military for saying it doesn’t have the authority to protect Palestinian civilians from settler attacks in Hebron/AlKhalil.
• Mahmoud Abbas to travel to Damascus, as unity talks continue there between Hamas and Fateh officials.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine, with two reports from Israeli human rights groups and academics. The first report was from Israeli professor Ilan Pappe and was carried on The Electronic Intifada on Jan. 11th, 2007. The report analyzed Israeli military policies in the West Bank and Gaza, labelling them as ethnic cleansing and genocide. Prof. Pappe also looked ahead to 2007 and stated boycott and divestment were the only way of stopping Israel. The second report was from Btselem and talked about the new military order in the West Bank that forbids Israelis and tourists from transporting Palestinians in their cars without a permit.

Focus on Zionism:
Highlights of a Jan. 15th, 2007 Haaretz article about two Israeli officers that got just probation over the killing of four Palestinian civilians, when an Israeli tank fired directly into a crowd breaking curfew.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will be visiting the Middle East, to promote “peace efforts” in the region.
• Illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa, built on Palestinian land near Bethlehem, is set to be expanded, along with other settlements in the area.
• 8 human rights group petition Israeli High Court over new military order banning Israelis and foreigners from having Palestinians in private cars in the West Bank.
• Israel is reportedly working on secret plans to attack Iran with tactical nuclear weapons.

Feature:

A live interview with Ahmad Jabala, the son of one of the five men held under Canada’s infamous “security certificates” in a Kingston facility, that has been dubbed Guantanamo North. Ahmad explained how his father is being held without charge or trial and talked about the pain of the families of the men. He also discussed the hunger strike that three of the detainees, including his dad, have been on for over a month to draw attention to the inhumane situation of their incarceration, and gave details of the national campaign from Jan. 11-15 to support their demands.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a January 8th, 2007 news dispatch about a new extremist youth group in Israel being set up by an Israeli MP that will support the forced “transfer” (ethnic cleansing) of Palestinians.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Hamas accepts a conditional Israeli offer to free 450 Palestinian political prisoners, as well as most women and child prisoners, in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
• Tensions increase between Fateh and Hamas, squashing hopes of an end to internal Palestinian clashes.
• Israeli forces kidnap 9 Palestinians from Bethlehem and Jenin, taking them to an unknown location; 3 Palestinian fishermen were also grabbed off the coast of Gaza.
• U.S. military deaths hit 3,000 to end the year, just after the “colonial hanging” of Saddam Hussein; U.S. reportedly might send more troops to try and stabilize the situation.

Feature:

Voice of Palestine did its annual year-in-review for 2006 and looked at the significant events in the region, specifically in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. Human rights groups have called 2006 the year of “hunger and blockade” for the Palestinians and our collective discussed the economic siege on the Palestinian people, led by the U.S. and Israel, as well as the repercussions of the dangerous internal clashes that have flared recently. The war against Lebanon was talked about, and it was noted that despite the horrible devastation and civilian casualties in Lebanon, Israel did not achieve its goals and even Israeli analysts were debating the long-term impact of that defeat. The collective closed by talking about Iraq and the policy of the U.S., which seems to have turned more to inciting civil war since it can’t gain a military victory (a region-wide policy). The discussion ended with comments by various analysts about what Tariq Ali has referred to as the “colonial hanging” of Saddam Hussein, and excerpts of a Jan. 2nd, 2007 Guardian article by Ghada Karmi were read.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Dec. 31st, 2006 dispatch from the International Solidarity Movement – Palestine about the abusive treatment of human rights volunteers in Hebron, by both settlers and Israeli soldiers.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, says Christmas in Palestine is difficult this year, and criticizes the internal Palestinian clashes; Bethlehem’s mayor also highlights the impact of the separation wall and the economic siege.
• Israel is building a new settlement in the Jordan Valley to bring in former Gaza settlers.
• Israeli military step up checkpoints near Tulkarem and continue arrests in Bethlehem, destroying any Christmas or Eid Al Adha festivities.
• Israeli military offered to “transfer” two Palestinian villages near the route of the apartheid wall.
• Israeli cluster bombs left behind in Lebanon wound five people, including two children; at least 28 Lebanese have died in such cluster bomb and landmine explosions since August 2006.

Feature:

A live interview with Montreal activist, Stephan Christoff, currently visiting B.C., who talked about his experiences in Lebanon last summer, where he witnessed the Israeli invasion. He also spoke about the solidarity work in Montreal and around the country, and how pro-Israeli groups are desperately trying to reduce the positive impact of work highlighting the just cause of the Palestinian people. Stephan mentioned the detonating position of the Canadian government vis-à-vis the Middle East and noted the Xmas message that had been sent to Stephen Harper by Hanna Kawas regarding Canadian government support for Israeli war crimes. That message was also read in full at the end of the feature (www.cpavancouver.org ).

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of the press release issued by groups boycotting Chapters and Indigo due to support of the stores’ majority owners for the Israeli military. (more info at www.caiaweb.org )

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Dec. 19th – Israeli troops open fire on two teenage Palestinian girls, murdering one; meanwhile Palestinian groups continue clashes as their leaders call for restraint.
• Clashes had escalated after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called for early presidential and legislative elections.
• Dec. 19th – Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to meet soon, after Olmert makes a surprise visit to Jordan.
• Human rights groups, especially UN agencies, reject new Israeli ban on travel in the West Bank.
• Apartheid wall construction in East Jerusalem’s Al Ram neighbourhood threatens to close 22 Palestinian schools.

Feature:

A live interview with Prof. David Noble of York University who has initiated a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the University and pro-Israeli lobby groups for defamation and slander. Prof. Noble explained how after he researched and exposed the enormous influence of the Zionist groups on campus, he was attacked and accused of being “anti-semitic”, even though he himself is Jewish. In fact, the actions against him simply validated everything he was saying. There was also discussion of actions on other Canadian campuses by pro-Israeli lobbyists and ideas on what people can do to protect academic freedom of expression.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a Dec. 18th, 2006 story from the International Solidarity Movement about checkpoint humiliation of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers that volunteers had witnessed.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu says Israel has prevented a UN fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun to investigate the killing of 19 Palestinian civilians by an Israeli airstrike.
• Unidentified gunmen kill three young sons of a top Fateh official, further escalating the factional divisions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
• Jimmy Carter says Israeli policy in the West Bank represents instances of apartheid worse than what occurred in S. Africa, in interviews about his new book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”.
• Israeli PM indirectly admits Israel has nuclear weapons, in German TV interview.
• Bethlehem mayor says town is enduring one of its darkest chapters, due to Israeli separation barrier and closures that have devastated its economy and farming.

Feature:

A live interview with Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation www.caf.ca, who was recently attacked by Zionist groups for a leaflet distributed at the recent Liberal leadership convention. The leaflet, which exposed Bob Rae as a supporter of Israeli war crimes, was actually initiated by a Montreal paper and not CAF. However, CAF did support the content of the leaflet and made that position clear in the belated attacks and hysteria that followed. Khaled explained how powerful Zionist lobby groups were trying to influence Canadian national politics and were desperately trying to block the growing popular sentiment against Israeli oppression of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Dec. 3rd, 2006 article by a Palestinian-American woman carried in the Electronic Intifada, talking about the horrors of daily life for Gazan children, including her nephew.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Defence for Children Int’l. says there has been an increase in the number of Palestinian children detained by Israel; there are currently at least 450 child detainees, including three girls.
• Israel escalates policy of denying visa extensions to Palestinian family members.
• Palestinian PM says efforts to form unity government must continue.
• Dec. 4th – former Israeli chief of staff Moshe Yaalon spared arrest in N. Zealand, despite district judge issuing arrest warrants for suspicion of grave breach of Geneva Convention.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine, with two on the ground reports about the daily suffering of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The first story, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, talked about the restrictions on freedom of movement for the villagers of Azzun Atma, trapped between the Israeli separation wall and the “Green Line”. The second report from the Int’l. Solidarity Movement detailed the suffering caused by Israeli checkpoints near Nablus, and how new measures are permanently isolating the village of Asira Ash-Shamalia.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Dec. 5th, 2006 article in the Washington Times detailing Israel’s attempts to improve its international image, using PR firms in the U.S. A recent study by a British researcher put Israel last amongst 36 countries in a marketing poll.

Here is an audio file of this show: