News Highlights:

• On Dec. 15th, Israeli forces invaded Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, destroying 22 homes and leaving 25 Palestinian families homeless.
• On Dec. 13th, Israeli troops at a roadblock shot dead Kamela al Sholi, a university student and mother of two young children.
• Palestinian NGO condemns the murder of Ms. Sholi, calls for an international war crimes tribunal; meanwhile her village turns out for a huge funeral procession.
• Israel, for the third year in a row, has again barred Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas services in Bethlehem.
• Israeli advisers are training U.S. counter-insurgency forces in Iraq, including the use of assassination squads.

Feature:

A special edition of Eyewitness Palestine, the second in a series of monthly reports on the apartheid wall and its impact on Palestinian civilians in their daily lives. Local Palestinians, with Israeli and international activists, are setting up a camp in the village of Deir Ballut, near Salfit, to highlight the devastation caused by the separation wall. The camp starts on Dec. 19th and activities, such as a day of action at local schools and visits by journalists, are aimed at raising international awareness about this “new face of the continuing illegal occupation of Palestinian land”.

Focus on Zionism:

A statement by the leading U.S. anti-war group A.N.S.W.E.R. about the capture of Saddam Hussein and what comes next.

News Highlights:

• On Dec 7, 2003, two Palestinian youths killed by Israeli forces east of Gaza City, shot and left to bleed to death; the same day in Rafah, another Palestinian teenager killed from indiscriminate Israeli gunfire and his sister was also fired upon while attempting to help him.
• Ariel Sharon announces unilateral moves to impose a settlement, involving annexing some West Bank land and removing some small settlements; this follows Ehud Olmert’s proposal over the weekend for a unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank.
• Ariel Sharon pledges to never evacuate the settlement in the heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron/Al Khalil and says that a corridor to the settlement of Kiryat Arba would always be maintained.
• Palestinian groups do not agree on a second ceasefire with Israel, some wanted assurances Israel would reciprocate and stop attacks on Palestinians.
• U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution to ask the International Court of Justice to examine Israel’s separation/apartheid wall; U.S. had earlier vetoed Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop building the barrier.
• Architects of Geneva Accords meet with international figures, and will meet with Arab officials next month in Cairo.

Feature:

An interview with Stephan Christoff, a Montreal peace activist and journalist, who was refused entry by Israel into the Palestinian territories. Stephan spoke with VOP from Amman, Jordan, where he is currently visiting the Palestinian refugee camps and doing radio interviews. He explained why he became involved with the International Solidarity Movement in Montreal and his experience with Israeli officials when they interrogated him and then would not let him enter the country.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a report by the International Womens Peace Service about disturbing incidents during the olive harvest in Salfit. It talked about two farmers who were harassed by Israeli soldiers and one of them arrested, although later released. The Israeli commander told them he was doing all this – “Because I’m a maniac”.

News Highlights:

• Israeli troops launched a brutal raid on Ramallah on Dec. 1 killing three Palestinians, including a 9 year old boy, and leaving 60 others homeless.
• Israel launched construction of a new settlement in East Jerusalem, that will include 550 housing units. Israeli officials deny these moves were timed to coincide with the flurry of diplomatic initiatives, including the signing of the Geneva Accords.
• 36 Palestinians killed in November, half of them minors under 18 years, including 3 less than ten years old.
• Israel in the final stages of legalizing new settlements, Deputy Defense Minister says some of the “outposts” are now towns.
• Palestinian opposition to the Geneva Accords mounts, some in Fateh say it will prejudice future negotiations on the right of return.
• Israeli analysts agree that the U.S. deduction of $289 million from $9 billion loan guarantees is insignificant, and is only the difference in interest rates on the loan.
• Palestine National Council marks Nov. 29, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, by calling on the U.N. to impose sanctions on Israel.
• Vancouver also marked the Nov. 29 Day of Solidarity with a well-attended public event that featured Cindy and Craig Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, as guest speakers (to see the speeches from the Vancouver meeting, go to: http://workingtv.com/29nov03.html
• An Israeli center, Middle East Media Research Institute, opened an office in Baghdad; a Guardian reporter says MEMRI has links with Israeli intelligence circles.

Feature:

An interview with Johanna, a Vancouver woman who is volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement in Jenin, Palestine. Johanna spoke about what she had seen, her interactions with the people there, and about an investigative report she had done on a raid in a small village where two Palestinians boys had died.

Focus on Zionism:

Highlights of a report about a Jerusalem city councillor who wants to rename Gaza St., because the name reminds him of “terror and violence”. Israeli analysts explained that it is part of a trend by many Israelis to attempt to seal themselves off from anything Palestinian.

News Highlights:

• An 11 year-old Palestinian boy, Ibrahim Jalamna, was killed on Nov. 22 by Israeli troops in Jenin.
• Palestinian PM Ahmed Qorei says that the impasse with Israeli can only be broken if the Israeli government halts construction of the apartheid wall and stops settlement activity.
• UN Security Council passes a resolution backing the “roadmap for peace”; Israel condemns the resolution and vows to ignore it.
• Two Israeli security guards, protecting the apartheid wall near Jerusalem, are killed in an attack.
• U.S. administration deducts $289 million from Israel’s $9 billion loan guarantees; Israeli ambassador says he is satisfied.
• The “Geneva Initiative” will be unveiled in Geneva Dec. 1, in the presence of Jimmy Carter.
• Six B.C. groups release a letter, sent to Solicitor General Wayne Easter, denouncing the banning by Canada of three Palestinian organizations; the letter has received broad support and was covered by al-Jazeera news.

Feature:

An interview with Cindy and Craig Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, the young American woman murdered by an Israeli bulldozer. The Corries spoke about their recent trip to Palestine, the places they visited (Rafah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazlat Issa) and what they saw there. They also talked about their efforts to get an independent inquiry into the circumstances of Rachel’s killing, and the shortcomings of the Israeli military inquiry. The Corries will be speaking at a public meeting in Vancouver, at 7 pm Nov. 29 at the Maritime Labor Center, 111 Victoria Dr.

Focus on Zionism:

An article from the Guardian newspaper, written by Jocelyn Hurndall, the mother of a British activist shot by Israeli soldiers and now brain-damaged. She spoke about a cheque from the Israeli government to cover some of the costs of repatriating her son, which was returned by her bank NSF. She concluded – “What hope do Palestinians have when such profound disregard and disrespect is shown to humanity”.

News Highlights:

• A Palestinian boy, Ahmad Hasan, 14, was shot by Israeli troops near Nablus; 497 Palestinian children under the age of 18 killed by Israeli military in the last 3 years.
• More demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall, including a large one in Tulkarem.
• Israel arrests a 22-year-old Canadian university student, while Ottawa adds three Palestinian organizations to its “terrorist list”.
• Four former Israeli Shin Beth (security) chiefs call for withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza and predict “disaster” for Israel under current policies
  Ariel Sharon’s government rules out any dismantling of the 103 wildcat “settlement outposts.”
• Ariel Sharon in Italy, commends Italy’s support for Israel; meanwhile, his foreign minister, Silvan Shalom receives chillier reception at EU talks in Brussels.

Special Feature:

Eyewitness Palestine highlighted a report about the Apartheid Wall, and its repercussions on the Palestinian population now and for generations to come. The report, written by two Western observers, talked specifically about the section of the wall already completed in the north of the West Bank, and how it is grabbing the most fertile agricultural land and the largest water aquifers. It also explains how the new planned sections will enclose three areas of the West Bank into separate ghettos, and how all of this will leave Palestinians with no other options but to work in the Israeli settlementsf industrial zones as cheap labour. For more info, see http://www.stopthewall.org.

Focus on Zionism:

A report on how the new section of the Apartheid Wall in the Jordan Valley will affect the small village of Al Aqaba, which has already received demolition orders for 12 buildings.