News Highlights:

• On May 4th, Israeli troops launch another attack on Gaza, killing two Palestinians and also surround Yasser Arafat’s compound.
• On May 3rd, Israeli forces tighten the siege on Nablus, after killing four Palestinians.
• Ariel Sharon claims he will make another “disengagement plan” for Gaza, and Washington reaffirms its support.
• Former inmates of the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad still cannot not talk about the torture and humiliation they suffered at the hands of U.S. troops.
• York University expels a pro-Palestinian Jewish-Canadian student activist for three years for taking part in “unauthorized” protests and using a bullhorn.

Feature:

An interview with Keith Reynolds, a Canadian humanitarian worker from Whistler, who recently returned from Palestine. Keith attended the Sabeel Conference in Jerusalem, entitled “Challenging Christian Zionism”. The conference drew over 600 scholars, peace activists and religious leaders who examined the extreme ideological positions of Christian Zionism that are detrimental to a just peace in the Middle East. Keith also talked about the difficult daily lives of Palestinians under occupation, especially in Jenin.

Focus on Zionism:

A report about the struggle of Deir Qaddis, near Ramallah, against the separation wall and its continuing efforts to survive as a community in its new conditions of isolation.

(A special segment was dedicated to pledges for Coop Radio’s Spring Marathon, and listeners were encouraged to call in and support the show and the station, and keep the Palestinian voice alive on the airwaves.)

News Highlights:

• An Israeli invasion into Gaza on April 21st left 12 Palestinians dead, including a 12-year-old boy.
• On April 27th, 3 more Palestinians die at the hands of Israeli troops, two from Tulkarem refugee camp and a 14-year-old from Ramallah from wounds inflicted April 18th.
• On April 25th, Palestinian women from Biddu hold a peaceful demo joined by Israeli and international activists – several women are beaten by Israeli forces and at least 3 arrested.
• Palestinian PM Qurei said on April 21st that his cabinet is considering a mass resignation in response to the US backing of Israeli demands for no right of return and keeping West Bank settlements.
• In Iraq, refugees from the besieged city of Fallujah have told western reporters how U.S. forces are using cluster bombs and snipers are shooting indiscriminately; one refugee says, “Fallujah is becoming another Palestine”.

Feature:

A live interview with Rabie Masri from Montreal about the campaign to stop the deportations of Palestinian refugees from Canada. Rabie is one of the main activists in the campaign, and he told us about the most recent case, that of Osama Saleh from Tulkarem who was facing imminent deportation on April 29th. (Update – The campaign was successful and for the time being at least, Osama Saleh has received a reprieve.)

Focus on Zionism:

The Focus was a follow-up to the previous week’s segment, about the Palestinian boy used as a human shield by Israeli troops in Biddu. Human rights activists managed to get a photograph of the horrific incident where the boy was tied by an arm to an Israeli jeep windscreen and have initiated an official complaint.

News Highlights:

• On April 18th, Israeli forces clash with protestors after the assassination of Hamas leader Dr. Rantisi, wounding three teenagers.
• The same day, a Biddu villager dies after being shot in the chest by Israeli snipers during a demo against the apartheid wall.
• George Bush meets with Ariel Sharon on April 14th, and agrees to no Israeli pullback to the 1967 borders and no Palestinian right of return to their lands.
• Palestinian legislators to vote on corruption charges against two Palestinian cabinet ministers who funneled cement to Israeli companies building the apartheid wall.
• Mordecai Vanunu, the Israeli anti-nuclear activist, to be released April 21st, but under extremely restrictive conditions.
• Christian Peacemaker Team members report from Fallujah, Iraq saying “There was a massacre…and it will get worse”.

Feature:

A live interview from Palestine with Huweida Araf, one of the cofounders of the International Solidarity Movement. Ms. Araf talked about the recent campaigns against the apartheid wall, and how Palestinian villagers are determined to resist this latest theft of their land. She also explained how the Palestinians are suffering from all the curfews and checkpoints and urged supporters here to do what they could to help. Ms. Araf herself has been jailed due to her solidarity activities, and did not know until the day before the interview if she would be arrested or not.

Focus on Zionism:

A press release from Rabbis for Human Rights about the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields by the Israeli army. On April 15th, a 12 year old Palestinian boy, as well as Rabbi Arik Ascherman and an international volunteer, were all tied to or placed in front of Israeli jeeps and used as human shields. All of the rabbi’s objections and pleas to at least help the boy were met with physical and verbal threats.

News Highlights:

• Protests continue in Biddu village as Israel resumes construction of apartheid wall
  On April 12th, Biddu village leader says more than 20 people arrested for peaceful resistance against the wall.
• Palestinians protest outside cabinet meeting over inaction of Palestinian Authority towards the wall.
• Two Palestinians beaten by Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem.
• Ariel Sharon expects U.S. approval for keeping most West Bank settlements in exchange for “disengagement plan” in Gaza.
• On April 12th, Palestinian journalists demand investigation into murder last month of Khalil al Zaben in Gaza.
• April 9th marked the 56th anniversary of the Deir Yassin massacre, in which Zionist paramilitary forces murdered 120 Palestinian men, women and children.

Feature:

A special Eyewitness Palestine-Eyewitness Jenin featured two reports, one an account from one of the first human rights observers into the Jenin camp after the Israeli war crimes in April 2002, and the other an eyewitness account by an international volunteer of the Israeli shooting of Brian Avery in April 2003, also in Jenin. Khader Shkeirat, director of the LAW human rights organization entered the Jenin refugee camp on April 16th, 2002, even before Israeli soldiers had pulled out.

His report detailed the horrific destruction and dead bodies he saw, and the testimonies he collected from the people of the camp. Brian Avery was a peace activist with the International Solidarity Movement, and one of his co-volunteers wrote a moving essay exactly one year after Brian was shot in the face by Israeli troops at close range. Entitled “Feeling Palestinian”, the eyewitness account detailed the events of April 5th, 2003 in Jenin under curfew, the day Brian was shot.

Focus on Zionism:

A report by the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron/AlKhalil about an Israeli settler attack on a Palestinian family’s vineyard. The settlers, backed up by Israeli soldiers, systemically destroyed 30-year-old grape vines, the livelihood of the Jaber family.

News Highlights:

• To mark Day of the Child, Defence for Children Int’l. – Palestine issued a statement highlighting the plight of Palestinian children under occupation.
• In 2003, 130 Palestinian children killed by Israeli troops and a further 21 killed in the first 3 months of 2004.
• Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees issues an appeal for milk for infants with special needs.
• Israeli soldiers shoot three Palestinian youths on April 5th in Gaza; they are left to bleed to death overnight because Israeli authorities will not allow ambulances to reach them.
• American Muslims for Jerusalem condemned the April 2nd Israeli paramilitary assault on the Al Aqsa Mosque.
• Mordechai Vanunu, the anti-nuclear activist, to be released from Israeli prison later this month after 18 years incarceration.
• The Guardian reports that the U.S. is hiring mercenaries from Chile to fight in Iraq; there are estimated to be thousands of such mercenaries from various countries already there.

Feature:

An interview with Khaled Barakat, a local Palestinian activist, about the over 100 Palestinian refugees facing deportation across Canada. There are 3 elderly Palestinians from the Ein el Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon, currently forced into sanctuary in a Quebec church. We then spoke with Osama, a Palestinian refugee here in Vancouver, who is also threatened with deportation. He detailed his case and the experiences he had gone through so far with Immigration officials.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a report from the International Solidarity Movement about the struggle of the Biddu villagers against the apartheid wall. On April 4th, the Israeli bulldozers returned accompanied by soldiers and jeeps. Despite Israeli violence, the villagers, joined by internationals and Israeli activists, prevailed and forced the military to retreat.