News Highlights:

• April 25th – Amnesty International calls on Israel to take action against settlers who have been poisoning Palestinians’ livestock.
• Israeli Housing Ministry continuing to work on the E-1 settlement expansion plan between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem.
• Palestinian Health Ministry reports that a pregnant Palestinian woman was held up at Israeli checkpoint and the delay causes miscarriage; since Sept 2000, 39 Palestinian children have been born at checkpoints.
• British lecturers vote to endorse academic boycott against Israel, and suspend all links with Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities.

Feature:

A live interview with Cindy and Craig Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer two years ago in Rafah. The Corries talked about recent solidarity activities in Rachel’s memory, including a new play in London. They also discussed their lawsuit against the Caterpillar corporation and the resolution that was recently defeated calling on the company to investigate what Israel does with its Caterpillar bulldozers. The discussion also covered the global divestment campaign against companies that are maintaining and assisting the Israeli occupation.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a report in the April 24th Observer about how Israeli soldiers lied and tampered with evidence in the inquiry into the killing of British film-maker James Miller.

News Highlights:

• April 18th, Israel issues tenders for 50 new settler units in the occupied West Bank.
• Ariel Sharon says he may delay Gaza “disengagement” by three weeks.
• April 17th – Palestinians mark national Prisoners Day and thousands protest, calling for the release of the over 7000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails; the prisoners launch a two-day hunger strike to highlight the intolerable conditions inside the jails.
• British lecturers considering an academic boycott of Israel and several of its universities to protest Israeli policies against Palestinians.
• Palestinian academics respond to some of the Israeli left who do not support the call for a boycott, saying Israeli academics serve in the occupation army and rarely challenge Israeli policies.

Feature:

An interview with Ali Abunimah, a co-founder of Electronic Intifada from Chicago, about the U.S. global empire, and how attempts to reactivate the Middle East “peace process” fit into U.S. and Israeli plans.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an April 18th op-ed in the Jordan Times about how Caterpillar shareholders voted down the resolution to investigate the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes

News Highlights:

• April 13th – Caterpillar shareholders will vote on a resolution to
  investigate if sales of its bulldozers to Israel violate its own ethics code.
• April 11th – George Bush meets with Ariel Sharon and reiterates promise that Israel can keep large West Bank settlement blocs; Bush also cautions against settlement expansion but Sharon gives no commitments.
• April 11th – Palestinian and international protestors block Israeli trucks trying to bring garbage from the center of Israeli and dump it in the West Ban.
• April 10th – UNICEF official condemns the Israeli killing of three Palestinian teens that were playing soccer.
• April 9th – new confiscation orders of Palestinian land near Ramallah to build a road.
• New poll shows that Israeli settlement expansion has convinced many
  Palestinians genuine peace is no longer possible.

Feature:

Highlights of the speech by Dr. Ismail Zayid at the Palestine Lives
conference at McMaster University on March 12th. The conference was organized by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, the student group on campus, was well attended by 200 people, and brought together a wealth of activists and academics to give presentations. Dr. Zayid, a Palestinian Canadian, spoke on “The Palestine/Israel Conflict: A Legacy of Ethnic Cleansing and Dispossession”.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an April 11th, 2005 press release from Human Rights Watch about
the U.S. position on illegal Israeli settlements, calling on George Bush to
clearly state that the U.S. is opposed to all Israeli settlement activity in
the occupied Palestinian territories. (see www.hrw.org for full text)

News Highlights:

• Apr 4th – Ariel Sharon pledges to expand settlement construction that will link Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, a move that will completely cut East Jerusalem off from the West Bank and to Palestinians.
• Leading Palestinian militant groups do not agree with Mahmoud Abbas’ call for disarmament; Abbas shuffles security services and appoints new security director.
• Apr 4th – Israel holding talks about the possible release of 400 more
  Palestinian prisoners, as promised in February.
• Apr 4th – Israel extends temporary law preventing Palestinian spouses of Israelis from becoming citizens; government is clear that law is not for
  security reasons, but demographic considerations.
• New poll shows majority of Jewish Israelis want Israeli Palestinians to emigrate, and do not support a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

Feature:

A live interview with famed Palestinian actor and director, Mohammed Bakri.
Bakri was the driving force behind Jenin Jenin, the documentary that allowed
some of the Palestinian survivors of the 2002 Israeli attack on the Jenin
camp to tell their story. The documentary was banned for a long time in
Israel and Bakri also explained how pressure was put on European TV stations
to not show it. Bakri was visiting Ontario and Quebec and also said that a
new film about Palestine will be coming to the Vancouver Film Festival this
fall.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an AP dispatch carried April 5th by the Israeli Haaretz
newspaper, that detailed how Israeli troops beat five unarmed Palestinian
traffic police in Hebron.

News Highlights:

• Mar 29th – Btselem, the Israeli human rights group, issues report about Gaza
  entitled “One Big Prison”; report details violations of rights resulting
  from Israeli restrictions on movement of people and goods.
• Conflict escalating between Israeli officers and settlers; one officer said
  he is more afraid of Jewish settlers than Palestinians.
• March 29th – Limerick City Council in Ireland will consider a motion to declare
  the city a “Caterpillar Free Zone”, banning all Caterpillar machinery from
  city worksites.
• Mar 27th – Israeli PM Ariel Sharon says U.S. agreement on Israel keeping the
  large settlement blocs “stands firm”.

Feature:

The feature was an instudio panel discussion about the latest US
re-affirmation regarding the large Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The statements of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice confirming U.S.
support for Israel “keeping” (i.e. annexing) the big settlement blocs were
analyzed, and it was noted that Ariel Sharon has been pursuing this policy
for a long time. A report from the Israeli Committee Against Home
Demolitions explained that once the 3500 new units announced last week are
built in the area between Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim,
there is absolutely no hope for any future viable Palestinian state.

Focus on Zionism:

An urgent press release issued March 28th by the Gaza Community Mental Health
Programme stated that new radiation inspection equipment being used by
Israel at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza poses a major health risk to
Palestinian travelers.

Here is an audio file of this show: