News Highlights:

• Israeli forces kill two Palestinian civilians in less than 24 hours in Nablus.
• UNICEF reports that 91 Palestinian children have been killed so far this year in the occupied Palestinian territories, already double the number for 2005.
• Israeli military judge orders the army to investigate the wounding of a Palestinian cameraman after he was arrested in Bilin; Imad Bornat has been documenting the weekly protests in Bilin against the separation wall.
• Qatari Foreign Minister leaves Gaza after talks fail to move ahead on the Palestinian unity government.
• Palestinians in Hebron remember the 29 Palestinian worshippers murdered by Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein 13 years ago during Ramadan.
• Zionist Christians announce they have spent $40 million over the last decade and a half to assist immigration to Israel.

Special Feature:

A live interview with Salim Vally, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Committee PSC in South Africa, who spoke at the Boycotting Israeli Apartheid conference in Toronto over the weekend. Salim covered a broad variety of topics, including the history of his committee, the success of the Toronto conference and the potential of the boycott movement against Israel. Salim explained the similarities between apartheid South Africa and apartheid Israel and also discussed the close relations that had existed between them before the apartheid regime in S. Africa was defeated. This was part of the impetus for the formation of the PSC, he said, and had also played a pivotal role in highlighting Israeli racism at the Durban conference, which was highly successful, despite North American media reports to the contrary. Salim then gave us news about the Toronto conference, which was attended by over 600 people during the weekend, and laid a solid foundation for building an effective boycott movement in Canada. The interview concluded with Salim carrying our regards to Willie Madisha, the COSATU union leader who had not been able to come to the conference or be with us on the show due to urgent union business in S. Africa.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an October 7th, 2006 eyewitness report from the International Solidarity Movement about how Israeli soldiers and settlers harass the Palestinians in Hebron.

News Highlights:

• UN envoy John Dugard says Israel has turned Gaza into a prison for Palestinians where life is “intolerable…tragic”; he adds that the international community must take action.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cancels unity meetings with Palestinian PM.
• Sept. 25th – Bilin villagers announce they will build a hotel on village land occupied by Israel.
• Israeli court refuses to connect Bedouin villages in the Negev to clean water sources.
• Israeli exports to Saudi Arabia rose 10% in the first half of 2006, and 12 Israeli companies have export relations with Saudi Arabia.

Feature:

A cultural special highlighting the music of progressive American singer-songwriter David Rovics who was in concert in Vancouver on September 22. Four of Rovics’ songs about Palestine were played on air, three of which he performed at his concert: “They’re building a wall”, “I wanna go home”, “Jenin”, and “Palestine”. There was discussion about the profound impact and the international scope of his music and the panel also talked about his new CD, Haliburton: Boardroom Massacre.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a September 23rd, 2006 press release from the International Solidarity Movement about how Israeli soldiers stood by as young armed settlers attacked an elderly Palestinian couple, leaving the old man with a fractured bone in his calf.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Palestinian farmers will hold a market in Tulkarem on Sept. 20th to support the growing movement to boycott Israeli goods; Irish support groups are stepping up boycott actions, including picketing major supermarkets in Dublin and Belfast.
• Sept. 18th – World Bank says its trust fund will finance non-salary budgets for Palestinian ministries of health, education and social affairs.
• Sept 17th – Palestinian civil and religious leaders condemn the fire-bombing attacks against several churches in the West Bank and question the motives of the perpetrators.
• Palestinian MP imprisoned by Israel and recently released was abused and mistreated; Mohammed Bargouthi, Minister of Labour, said his Israeli jailors also threatened to arrest his wife and father if he didn’t cooperate.

Feature:

A live interview with Stefan Christoff, a social activist from Montreal, recently returned from Lebanon. Stefan witnessed and reported about the Israeli military attack on Lebanon, and had articles in the Lebanese Daily Star and the Electronic Intifada. Stefan talked with us about his trip, what he experienced and saw, and also about the official Canadian government position. The interview also covered the 24th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres in the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a press release from the International Solidarity Movement about the upcoming appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to force the military to investigate the shooting of American student Brian Avery by Israeli soldiers.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Sep 3th – World Bank report recommends Palestinian Authority use Rafah border crossing for its exports, due to Israeli closures on Karni.
• Jan Egeland, UN humanitarian representative, warns of economic disaster in Gaza and says it’s a “ticking time bomb”.
• Dr. Mustafa Bargouthi holds Israel responsible for the economic crisis in the occupied territories and calls for a Palestinian unity government.
• Sep 1st – Israel officially takes over northern Bethlehem; Bethlehem’s mayor criticizes international silence as Israel confiscates 14% of Bethlehem.
• Israel PM Ehud Olmert claims he didn’t know about the new tenders for building 700 settler units in the West Bank.

Feature:

Voice of Palestine marks its 19th year of being on the air at Coop Radio with a special anniversary show that looks back at what first motivated the show to start and what is different now. Programmers explained how, in 1987, the on-going siege on Shatila camp in Beirut and the international silence around it had helped to convince the founding members that the Palestinian voice needed to be heard. Comparisons were made with the current siege on Gaza and international inaction, and there was also discussion of how the mainstream media had not changed, had perhaps even worsened, in 19 years. A VOP editorial from September, 1987 was read that was in answer to the Zionist attacks on the show when it first started. The panel noted how public opinion in Canada had become more informed and more supportive of the Palestinian struggle and concluded by thanking listeners and the production team that have kept the show going all these years.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a September 3rd, 2006 article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper entitled “Gaza’s Darkness”, that says Israeli forces are rampaging through Gaza and that it has basically been reoccupied.

Here is an audio file of this show: