News Highlights:

• June 8th – Israeli troops arrest Palestinians in several towns and villages in the West Bank.
• June 7th – Palestinian women and young girls, some 8 years old, challenge Israeli bulldozers and halt the uprooting of olive trees for an hour in Az Zawiya.
• June 7th – Mohammed Nabhan shot dead by Israeli troops near Khan Younis; Palestinian woman also wounded in Gaza.
• June 7th – Palestinian leadership says the five life sentences handed down to Palestinian legislator Marwan Bargouthi are illegal and violate the Geneva Convention.
• June 3rd – Israeli troops demolish six Palestinian houses in Jerusalem, leaving 70 people homeless; 70 houses still under threat of demolition.
• U.S. Zionists launch campaign to target high school students; will send “care packages” to Israeli soldiers.

Feature:

A live interview with Peretz Kidron, one of the founders of the Israeli refusenik organization, Yesh Gvul (There’s a Limit). Peretz spoke about the beginnings of the refuseniks movement and recent developments in the current intifada. He has a new book entitled Refuseniks: Israel’s Soldiers of Conscience, which tells the stories of different refuseniks in their own words and thoughts. Peretz also talked about the public meeting in Vancouver on June 13th that he was coming to address.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of an editorial by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian human rights activist, entitled How a Warning Shot Killed a Wheel Chair (Bound) Palestinian. The editorial dealt with the case of Arafat Yacoub, 31, who is confined to a wheelchair, and was shot by Israeli troops. Ghassan examined the explanation of the Israeli military about the killing and showed how, as in the case of Tom Hurndall, Israeli officials engage in cover-ups.

News Highlights:

• 2000 Palestinian children hold a march on May 31st in Rafah, calling for international protection.
• May 31st, Israel razes 20 more houses in Rafah; the newly homeless join the hundreds of others already living in tents and schools.
• Amnesty International charges Israel with war crimes for the destruction of homes in Gaza and the West Bank.
• Israel arrests a British journalist for interviewing Mordechai Vanunu, the anti-nuclear activist who was recently released from 18 years in an Israeli jail.
• Israeli security conducts a body and property search of Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, at whose church Vanunu is staying
  Israeli minister Avigdor Lieberman calls for exiling Israeli Arabs deemed disloyal.

Feature:

An interview with Melissa, from the International Solidarity Movement – Vancouver, about her experiences in Rafah and about an upcoming project in Palestine. Melissa was in Rafah in the fall of 2003 and spoke about the devastation going on now. She also talked about a new ISM project, Freedom Summer Palestine 2004, happening from June 25th – August 19th this year. International supporters from all over the world will be coming to join Palestinians in national actions to challenge the occupation and mobilize for justice and freedom

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a new report released by the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, about the increasing racism and violence against Palestinians in Israel. The group called for the enforcement of existing laws against the racist comments by Israeli public figures, including cabinet ministers Avigdor Lieberman, Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzachi Hanegbi.

News Highlights:

• On May 22nd, Rafah residents came out of their homes to survey the huge damage caused by Israel’s Operation Rainbow, which caused 54 Palestinian deaths and the destruction of at least 90 Palestinian homes.
• Israeli army chief denies preventing food supplies from reaching Rafah; apologizes for firing missile at peaceful demonstrators bringing food and medicine, killing 11.
• Israel’s justice minister Yosef Lapid says the destruction in Rafah reminds him of his family’s suffering during the Holocaust; he also states the Israeli military is planning to demolish another 2000 homes.
• On May 24th, Israeli soldiers kill two Palestinian kids in Nablus, one 12 and one 16, during an attack on the Balata refugee camp.
• Marwan Bargouthi, Palestinian leader and member of parliament, found guilty in Israeli court; Bargouthi had refused to take part in the trial.

Feature:

An interview with Johanna from the International Solidarity Movement-Vancouver about a local picket on May 21st at Stephen Owen’s office to protest the destruction in Rafah. Owen is a federal cabinet minister and a member of Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel, and has been vocal is his support for Israeli war crimes. Owen came out of his office to talk with the picketers and pledged to bring their concerns to cabinet. An in-studio discussion followed about the upcoming federal elections and the best way to make Canada’s position on the Palestinian situation an election issue.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a statement from a Jewish-American with dual Israeli citizenship who burned his Israeli military deferral papers at a protest in Washington, D.C. against the Rafah atrocities. He explained how this action showed his opposition to Israeli government policies and demonstrated his intention to never serve in an army of occupation.

News Highlights:

• On May 18th, 20 Palestinians were killed in one day in Gaza by Israeli forces during assault on Rafah for home demolitions; ambulances ambushed as they transfer wounded to hospital. Two of the dead were brother and sister, 13 and 16-years-old; the family was trapped in one room with the bodies because ambulances were being denied access to the area.
• Another 6 Palestinians killed as missile hit Bilal Bin Rabah mosque.
• 35-year old Palestinian man shot in the neck by an Israeli sniper; medical teams shot as they attempted to reach him.
• In the week prior to May 18th, another 30 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, including 3 children.
• The home demolitions have been declared war crimes by Israeli and international human rights groups.
  Israeli peace group Gush Shalom calls on all international supporters to condemn the “premeditated massive destruction of hundreds of homes”, which aims at turning Gaza into a huge prison camp.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine – Eyewitness Rafah with two reports, one from the small hospital in Rafah and the other a background piece on home demolitions in Gaza. The first report from news agencies told about the overcrowding and lack of supplies at the only hospital in the area, and also spoke about the deliberate targeting of ambulances by the Israeli military. The second report by Palestine Monitor explained that in the last three and a half years, 3000 homes have been demolished in Gaza alone, with 1000 of those in Rafah. They compared what is happening in Rafah to ethnic cleansing and called for immediate international intervention.

Focus on Zionism:

A personal account by a Palestinian from Rafah currently living in England, detailing his feelings of agony and horror as he sees and hears the news about family and friends. His cousin, father of 3, was crushed by a bulldozer trying to protect his home.

News Highlights:

• On May 11th, six Israeli soldiers killed during yet another invasion of Gaza City; five Palestinians also killed with 88 wounded, including an 11-year-old boy now on life support.
• On May10th, Israeli troops shoot and kill a 19-year-old Palestinian youth in Abu Dis.
• More home demolitions in the Gaza Strip leave 1100 Palestinians homeless in 10 days, according to U.N. figures.
• Palestinians will mark the 56th Al Nakba anniversary with meetings, marches and special publications detailing the dispossession and displacement of the Palestinian people.
• More than 300 Palestinian teenagers, including 3 under the age of 14, subjected to torture and abuse in Israeli jails, according to Save the Children and Defense of Children Int’l.
• The U.S. defense firm implicated in torture in Iraqi prisons has close ties to Israel, according to U.S. newspapers; another report suggests Arabic speaking Israelis helped to develop the “interrogation techniques” used at Abu Ghraib prison, techniques similar to those used in Israeli jails.

Feature:

A live interview with Norman Finkelstein, Jewish-American author and professor about his upcoming trip to Vancouver. He spoke about the politics of anti-Semitism and how the charge of anti-Semitism is being used to silence critics of Israel. He also detailed how the distribution of his recent book, The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, has been severely limited in the U.S. due to a massive campaign against it.

Focus on Zionism:

May 8th – Highlights of a report on alJazeera.net by Khalid Amayreh about comments by Israeli transportation minister Avigdor Lieberman calling for the expulsion of 1.3 million Palestinian citizens of Israel, if a Palestinian state is ever established. He said the Palestinian minority threatened the “ethnic purity” of Israel.