News Highlights:

• March 6th – International human rights groups and UN officials call for Israel to stop its assassinations of Palestinians.
• UNICEF says 5 Palestinians kids killed on Monday, two of them bystanders to an Israeli extra-judicial assassination.
• New Palestinian parliament votes to revoke the last-minute legislation giving extra presidential powers, passed by the previous parliament after the Jan. 25th elections.
• Peace Now movement blasts the Kadima party and PM Ehud Olmert for capitulating to extremist settlers by promising to hold on to even more West Bank land.
• Israeli official claims Israeli human rights groups are working against Israel’s interests and “besmirch” the state.

Feature:

A live interview with Mohammad Ayyash from Balata Refugee Camp near Nablus in the West Bank and about the recent Israeli attacks on the camp. Mohammad is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement ISM and spoke about the Palestinians killed and wounded by the Israeli army during this last invasion. He also talked about the 2002 Israeli attack on Balata and Nablus and the horrible damage left behind, including a higher Palestinian death toll than even what was reported in the Jenin camp.

Focus on Zionism:

A Mar 4th, 2006 release from Neta Golan, who works in the ISM media office, about how the international media and even the Arab media had ignored the Israeli military raid on Balata camp.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Feb. 27th – Israel continues its siege on the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, hindering the movement of ambulances and emergency medical staff; Israeli troops have killed 9 Palestinians during the siege, including 2 children, and wounded 55, including journalists and one doctor.
• The final section of the Israeli apartheid wall around Bethlehem is almost complete; Bethlehem’s mayor issues statement warning that extremist Israeli settlers have begun construction on an illegal settlement in the heart of Bethlehem.
• Israel says it will not hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; meanwhile, EU ministers approve sending aid to the Palestinian government.
• James Wolfensohn warns the Palestinian Authority is on the verge of financial collapse.

Feature:

VOP was unable to reach Splitting the Sky, an indigenous activist, about the open letter sent to the Assembly of First Nations regarding their recent trip to Israel. The letter was sent by the Canada Palestine Association and endorsed by many groups and individuals and pointed out to the AFN that they were allying themselves with the oppressors of another indigenous people. Splitting the Sky will be rescheduled for an interview in March.

Excerpts of an article in the Palestine Chronicle about the illegality of Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian tax revenues were also presented.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Feb. 28th, 2006 article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper about a ruling by the Israeli High Court branding an Israeli government plan for investment in education in “areas of national priority” as “racially based”.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights

• Feb. 19th – Palestinian was shot in the chest while at home during Israel’s latest assault on the Balata refugee camp near Nablus; ambulances being blocked from doing medical emergency work and all entrances to the camp are closed.
• Palestinian president meets with new prime minister designate Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.
• Hamas is still trying to put together a coalition unity government.
• Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter cautions U.S. and Israel against “punishing the Palestinian people; says it will be counterproductive and devastating.
• Head of the Arab League says the Arab countries must have a plan to send money to the Palestinians; meanwhile Condoleeza Rice warns Arab governments to not fund the PA.
• Anglican leaders explain why they supported disinvestment from Caterpillar, and say their pro-Israeli critics are engaging in moral blackmail.

Feature:

An instudio discussion examined the recent developments both internationally and on the Palestinian scene following the January 25th Palestinian legislative elections. The panel first pointed out how the concept of any kind of democratic process under occupation is misleading and false. There was then analysis on the new Hamas-led government and what could be expected, as well as the international response.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an article by Israeli journalist Amira Hass, carried in the February 17th, 2006 Palestine Chronicle, about how Israel is now forcing Palestinians with permits to use separate roads when entering Israel from the West Bank.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Feb. 13th – Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian woman next to her home in Gaza; second Palestinian civilian killed near the border area in less than two weeks.
• Palestinian teen shot in the face by an Israeli soldier while on his school bus near Bethlehem.
• U.S. and Israel discussing ways to destabilize new Palestinian gov’t, N.Y. Times reports.
• Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says Israel has effectively annexed the Jordan Valley, with a system of permits and checkpoints that keeps most Palestinians out.
• Russia and France back talks with Hamas to discuss aid to the Palestinian Authority.
• Feb. 10th – Israel is digging up hundreds of skeletons in a centuries-old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem to build a “Museum of Tolerance” for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Feature:

A live interview with Tania Tabar from Solidarity with Palestinian Human Rights SPHR at Concordia University, about their Israeli Apartheid Week event. Tania explained how the Concordia administration arbitrarily forced the group to change their venue at the last minute, from the Samuel Bronfman Building to another place on campus. She talked about the questions SPHR raised to the University President, specifically if there was external intervention in the decision, and why it was made at the last minute. Part of an article by Ron Saba in the Montreal Planet was also read, where he highlighted the moving photo memorial to the forgotten Palestinian children that opened the week of events at Concordia and McGill universities.

Focus on Zionism:

Part of a Feb. 14/06 Haaretz article detailing how, in a debate over an amendment to Israel’s Citizenship Law, Justice Mishael Cheshin said Israeli citizens who marry Palestinians should go live in Jenin. The amendment to the law, which was being challenged by human rights groups, will forbid the granting of Israeli citizenship to Palestinians married to Israelis.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel must separate itself from the Palestinians and draw permanent borders, which would include holding on to all the major settlement blocs and keeping control over the Jordan Valley settlements.
• Palestinian Muslim and Christians demonstrate in Bethlehem against the offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammed.
• A top Hamas official says they will abide by previous agreements with Israel, but adds no deal is eternal; meanwhile Hamas is trying to negotiate a coalition government with Fateh.
• Palestinian died in hospital from wounds suffered during an Israeli airstrike a day earlier; seven Palestinians have been killed in 2 days by Israeli air raids.

Feature:

An interview with Stephen Aberle of Jews for a Just Peace, about the forum theatre they are organizing to be presented at the World Peace Forum. Stephen talked about the concept for the play, the struggle for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine and its effects on communities in Canada. The play is being done in collaboration with Headlines Theatre who is responsible for directing a workshop for participants the first week of May. A call has gone out for volunteers, who can get more info and contact organizers at www.jewsforajustpeace.com.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an article in the Lansing State Journal by John Masterson, detailing how Israeli policies have made a viable Palestinian state impossible and how Israel is carrying out a relentless defacto war against the Palestinian people.

Here is an audio file of this show: