News Highlights:

• Palestinian officials boycott handover ceremony, marking Israel’s redeployment from Gaza, due to Israel’s unilateral closure of the vital Rafah border crossing.
• Sept. 12th – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visits evacuated settlement and says Gaza must not become one large prison.
• Amnesty Int’l. today deplored the failure of UK authorities to act upon the arrest warrant for war crimes for Israeli general Doron Almog, when he was at Heathrow airport.
• Activists in Vancouver have called on Canadian Attorney General, Irwin Cotler, to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Colonel Zeev Raz who is coming to B.C.; he was the leader of the Israeli aggression against Iraq in 1981 that destroyed the Osirak reactor.
• Sept. 12th – Israel is negotiating with the Emir of Qatar to meet with Ariel Sharon at the U.N.; Sharon is already meeting with George Bush, Jordan’s King Abdullah and leaders from Turkey and Canada.

Feature:

The special feature marked the 23rd anniversary of the massacre carried out in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon. The survivors and families of the victims have yet to receive any justice, despite a recent attempt to bring all those involved, including then-Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon, to trial in Belgium. It is especially cruel that on this anniversary, Ariel Sharon, now Prime Minister of Israel, is being received at the U.N. as a “man of peace”. Several reports were presented, one from an international tribunal convened in Geneva in 1983 and eyewitness testimony from two foreign journalists who were in the camps in September 1982.

Focus on Zionism:

A Sept. 11th press release from the Israeli refusenik group, Yesh G’vul, detailing how they no longer have faith in the Israeli High Court and their files against Israeli officers suspected of war crimes will be sent to the U.K.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Sep. 6th – Israeli cabinet minister says the Gazan redeployment is a “window of opportunity” to build up the West Bank settlement blocs, as further construction is approved in the Ariel settlement.
• Sep. 6th – Israeli Defense Minister instructs West Bank commanders to “show no pity for anyone” at roadblocks.
• Sep. 6th – Israeli soldiers in Gaza kill a young Palestinian in the first clash with Palestinian demonstrators since redeployment.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the issue of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing has not been resolved with Israel.
• The international community is reportedly pressuring Israel to allow freedom of movement between Gaza and Egypt, although Ariel Sharon’s office denies this.
• Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will visit Israel in November; Israeli FM Shalom says this is part of the “fruits of disengagement”, and is only one of increased contacts with the Arab and Moslem world.

Feature:

This week marked the 18th anniversary of Voice of Palestine being on the air at Coop radio, and to mark the occasion, we examined the state of mainstream Canadian media today and how it has changed in the last two decades. The panel discussed the increasing monopoly of CanWest Global and their overt pro-Israel bias, as well as the diminishing role of the CRTC in ensuring any sort of balance. The specific example of a complaint against the CanWest show entitled “Jenin: Massacring Truth” was detailed, as well as the shocking official response that “point of view” documentaries are not subject to fairness and balance requirements. There were also several guest callers who talked about other instances of bias, and even outright anti-Arab anti-Moslem racism in the Canadian media.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a Sept. 6th, 2005 article in the British Guardian about testimony by dozens of Israeli soldiers that they carried out shoot-to-kill orders against unarmed Palestinian civilians, even young children.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Ariel Sharon says Israel will always hold on to the larger settlement blocs in the West Bank, and the issue of removing any smaller, isolated ones will only be dealt with in the final stage of negotiations.
• Palestinian militants renew commitment to a ceasefire, until the end of this year; however, they say it also depends on Israel’s full and complete withdrawal from Gaza.
• Three Palestinian workers from Hebron attacked by Israeli soldiers.
• Palestinian PM Ahmed Qorei says Egypt supports a Palestinian-Egyptian Rafah crossing point, with no Israeli forces.
• Toronto groups to hold solidarity vigil for incarcerated hunger strikers in Ontario; both are Arab refugees who are being held without charge on “security certificates”.

Feature:

An interview with local journalist, Greg Felton, about anti-Arab bias in the media and the increasing anti-Arab racism in Canada in general. Greg gave examples from the Globe and Mail about how stories are slanted, and the overwhelming bias in the CanWest media was also discussed. The issue of the two Arab hunger strikers in Ontario jails being held on security certificates was covered, and the lack of any semblance of due process or even respect of simple human rights for the two was pointed out.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an August 30th, 2005 story from the Financial Times website about the growth of the West Bank settlements and how this will hinder future peace efforts.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• As the last Jewish settlement in Gaza is cleared, Ariel Sharon says he will continue expanding West Bank settlements, in specific Ma’ale Adumim, linking it to “Greater Jerusalem”, and annexing the Ariel settlement to Israel.
• Mahmoud Abbas promises that the Gaza airport will soon reopen, despite the lack of agreement by Israel.
• Aug. 20th – Israeli settlers in Hebron attack peace activists from the Israeli group, Women in Black.
• Aug. 20th – Israeli economy is benefiting from the Gaza redeployment, as stock market jumped 5 percent and foreign investment is booming.
• Aug. 22nd – Palestinian leaders condemn the transfer of Gazan settlers to Ariel settlement in the West Bank.

Feature:

An interview with Noah, a Vancouver peace activist, who spent 7 weeks in Palestine, volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement. Noah, a Jewish-Canadian, explained why he had gone to Palestine, to bear witness to the suffering of the Palestinian population. He spoke about the apartheid wall, the checkpoints, and the difficulties of daily life in the places he stayed. He also commented on the Gazan redeployment and how it would not improve peoples’ lives.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a commentary in the Aug. 19th, 2005 Guardian, entitled “The settlers’ retreat was the theatre of the cynical”. The writer compared the treatment of the Gazan settlers and the overwhelming world coverage, with the treatment of the over 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza whose homes were demolished by the Israeli army in the first 10 months of last year.

Here is an audio file of this show:

News Highlights:

• Israeli troops seal off Gaza on Aug. 14th for redeployment; Israeli Chief of Staff estimates that there are 5000 Israeli extremists from outside Gaza who have entered recently.
• U.N. World Food Program stockpiles food supplies for the poorest Palestinians in Gaza for two months due to expected Israeli curfews and closures.
• Aug. 14th – Israeli soldiers shot and injured four Palestinian kids, the youngest 12, during a raid into Dura village near Hebron (al-Khalil) in the West Bank.
• U.S. is sending assessment teams to decide how much new U.S. economic aid can be given to Israel following the redeployment.
• Lutheran Church in America adopts resolution criticizing Israel’s separation wall.

Special News Section:

• Excerpts of a Aug. 16th Guardian report about the dire situation and feelings of Palestinians in Deir al-Balah in Gaza.
• Highlights of a commentary on Al-Awda Media about how most of the 4000 journalists in Gaza are missing the real story, that of how the Israeli occupation will still continue and Gazans will be totally disconnected from the outside world.

Feature:

A cultural feature marking the fall of the Tel Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut in August 1976. The camp had been under total siege and bombardment by Lebanese rightwing forces for 55 days and the civilian population had suffered a complete blockade of food, water and medicine. A poem and a prose selection by Fawaz Turki, the Palestinian-American writer, were presented from his book, “Tel Zaatar was the Hill of Thyme”.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an August 14th, 2005 article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper about how Palestinian labourers in the Gazan settlements are being excluded from Israel’s generous compensation law. However, the labourers point out that they never received even their basic rights, such as minimum wage or vacation time, so this latest injustice does not surprise them.

Here is an audio file of this show: