News Highlights:

• Feb. 23 marked the beginning of the hearings on the apartheid wall at the International Court of Justice in the Hague; Zionist Christian groups allowed to hold high profile demo while pro-Palestinians limited to just 25 protestors.
• International Red Cross calls on Israel to halt building separation wall because it breaches international law
  Oxford legal group also says apartheid wall violates international human rights law.
• Armed Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem attack Palestinian homes and cars.
• U.N. is concerned at the growing despair amongst Palestinian refugees and says the wall just increases peoples’ feelings of hopelessness.
• Mordecai Vanunu, Israeli anti-nuclear activist, soon to leave Israeli jail after 18 years imprisonment but Israeli officials may slap restrictions on him after release.

Special Feature:

A discussion on the hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the apartheid wall Israel is building in the West Bank. Legal opinions provided by various international authorities had clearly stated that Israel was flaunting international law, and there was discussion about how the panel might rule and what message their ruling would send to the Palestinian and all oppressed peoples. There was also analysis about the media “spin” outside the ICJ on the first day of the hearings and the role the Dutch government and Zionist organizations played in controlling who and what was highlighted as international cameras were converging on the Hague.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of an article carried in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, entitled “When Soldiers become Bullies”. The article details one incident when three Israeli soldiers in black ski masks harassed a taxi owner and took his vehicle, apparently a very common experience. The article concludes that a “regime of bullying has emerged…in the territories”.

News Highlights:

• Palestinian Health Ministry report released on Feb. 15th says 27 Palestinians killed in just one week, 12 in one neighbourhood in Gaza City; almost 3000 killed since Sept. 2000.
• Former head of international force in Hebron/AlKhalil says Israeli settlers and army are carrying out cleansing and in a few years, “no Palestinians will remain there”.
• 200 Palestinian journalists occupy legislative building in Gaza to protest a series of attacks on reporters.
• Palestinian cabinet minister Saab Erekat says U.S. support for Ariel Sharon is dangerous, as Sharon says Israel will boycott the upcoming International Court hearing on the apartheid wall.
• Bill C-2 coming up for 2nd reading in Ottawa, and if passed, this bill will fine or jail subscribers in Canada to foreign satellite channels like Al Jazeera.
• Israel currently holds 629 Palestinian administrative detainees, who are held without charge or trial on secret evidence; one detainee was recently arrested for “incitement against the fence”, according to Knesset member Yossi Sarid.

Feature:

A live interview with Ghassan Andoni, from Beit Sahour in Palestine. Ghassan was one of the co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement, and he also works with the Rapprochement Center. Ghassan talked about the upcoming International Court of Justice Hearing on the apartheid wall, and the protests being planned in Palestine to coincide with the hearings. He said many people were concerned with what would follow after the apartheid wall, especially the possibility of massive transfer (i.e. ethnic cleansing) of Palestinians. Ghassan encouraged internationals to keep coming to Palestine to bear witness, despite the new Israeli travel regulations, and called on all peace-loving people to not be silent and raise their voices about the Palestinian tragedy.

Focus on Zionism:

A story from an ISM volunteer in Jenin about the intimidating and unnecessary searches that schoolchildren, some as young as 6, are subjected to by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints.

News Highlights:

• On Feb. 8th, an 11 year old Palestinian schoolboy was one of six people killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, during extra-judicial executions.
• Israeli forces declare Budrus in the West Bank a closed military zone, to facilitate construction of the apartheid wall and bar international observers and media from entering the village.
• Armed Israeli settlers take over 16 Palestinian homes in Silwan, near east Jerusalem, evicting the families living there, under the eye of Israeli police.
• 3000 protesters rally against the 25 foot apartheid wall in Abu Dis.
• Israeli police raid homes and arrest leaders of Abnaa ElBalad, a legal political organization of Palestinians in Israel, and hold them without due process on “secret evidence”.
• Palestinian PM is in Europe trying to shore up opposition to the apartheid wall, as Palestinian leaders are discouraged by the EU position over the upcoming hearing at the International Court.
• Kofi Annan speaks with Ariel Sharon about his plan to evacuate settlements in Gaza, as Sharon calls for approval to expand large West Bank settlements.
• Israeli tourism minister tells Christian leaders it is unacceptable to try to convert Jews and suggests they turn their attention to Muslim activists

Feature:

The third is a series of Eyewitness Palestine reports on the apartheid wall, this one about the one family Bantustan the apartheid wall has created near Mas’ha village. Hani and Munira Amer live surrounded by the wall and three fences, in a settler enclave. They are completely isolated from their family and neighbours in Mas’ha and are at the mercy of attacks by the nearby settlers. Hani is about to lose his job because of the difficulty in getting there on time through the fences and the wall and the gates. However, the family refuses to give up and will go on fighting this injustice.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a special interview with three Israeli refuseniks from an elite commando unit in the Israeli army. They explained that they came to their conscientious objector status through a long and painful process, and that their decision would not be reversed. One of them said he had found himself doing things he thought no Israeli soldier would ever do, and that there is an acceleration downwards in the standards of Israeli society.

News Highlights:

• On Jan. 28th, Israeli military forces killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza City, including five workers and an 11-year-old boy; the attack was followed by a bus bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 11 Israelis.
• Israel invaded Bethlehem several times over the weekend, searching homes, arresting people and demolishing buildings, including the family home of the activist who carried out the Jerusalem bombing.
• Ariel Sharon says he plans to evacuate most of the settlements in Gaza, but gives no timeframe.
• European Union, along with the U.S., Canada and others, formally states it opposes the the International Court of Justice (ICJ) taking up the issue of Israel’s apartheid wall.
• Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham claims Canada agrees the barrier should be dealt with as a political issue, not a legal one, even though Canada previously said there could be legal questions regarding the separation wall.
• Palestinian officials are angered by latest moves at ICJ, say the apartheid wall is clearly illegal as it is built on occupied land.
• Israel asks U.S. to postpone publishing its annual human rights report, as it may impact on the ICJ hearings.

Feature:

A live interview with Laurie King-Irani, cofounder of Electronic Intifada and one of the team that brought the case for war crimes against Ariel Sharon in Belgium. Laurie explained that due to political pressure from the U.S., Belgium had now changed its laws so that it could no longer consider cases against non-citizens for crimes against humanity. This was a setback for universal jurisdiction, as well as a blow to the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. There was also discussion of what was happening regarding the case against the apartheid wall, and what sort of message this sent to the new Palestinian generation. Laurie noted that she was speaking in Vancouver on Feb. 6th about the peace accords in the Middle East.

Focus on Zionism:

Excerpts of a report from The Observer on Feb. 1st, regarding the call for an inquiry into execution style killings by the Israeli army during their three-week invasion of Nablus earlier this year. The report detailed two of the murders in questions, one of a baker on his way to work, who was shot multiple times after being injured. Although the ambulance driver at the scene noted that the Palestinian man was carrying clothes covered in flour in a bag when killed, the Israeli army later alleged the man was a member of Islamic Jihad carrying a bag of explosives.

News Highlights:

• A Palestinian man dies from wounds suffered in a car accident, because Israeli soldiers would not open the gate in the apartheid wall to allow him to go to hospital.
• The prisoner exchange set for this week will include 435 Palestinian and Arab prisoners, as well as 59 bodies of Lebanese dead.
• U.N. can no longer cope with all the Palestinians made homeless by Israeli demolitions.
• Palestinian lawmakers oppose any change to Palestinian right of return in new “peace initiative”.
• The International Court of Justice orders Israel to submit its arguments on the apartheid wall, and rejects any postponement; Israeli legal advisors claim only U.N. Security Council can impose sanctions.
• Ariel Sharon vows to stay in office until 2007, despite corruption scandal.
• Jane’s Intelligence Digest says U.S. may provoke confrontation with Syria by attacking Hezbollah and thereby disregard consequences for regional instability.

Feature:

An interview with Stanley Heller, from Connecticut, about the “Jewish Statement in Opposition to the Geneva Accords”. This statement was also supported by AlAwda Unity and defends the Palestinian right of return. It also calls for equality for everyone living in Israel, especially the internal Palestinian refugees i.e. those Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship.

Focus on Zionism:

A report from Nablus, filed by a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. The report detailed how daily operations by the Israeli army are still creating fear and chaos amongst the civilian population, and how even schools are being targeted and the students injured, including a 10-year-old boy.