Activists demanding a better fate for Palestinians have chosen a potent accusation—the new apartheid—to rally support for the growing anti-Israel boycott. Their belief: what forced change in South Africa can provoke change in the Middle East. But it may not be that easy-or that simple

Imagination. Creativity. Inspiration. Three words to stir the soul crown the towering windows of Toronto’s flagship Indigo bookstore. At ground level, shoppers pass in and out of wood-framed glass doors, navigating planters and benches intended to create a friendly, front-porch sort of welcome. They take little notice as, on the sidewalk beyond, two women unfurl an off-white canvas banner. Printed on one side are another three words, less poetic perhaps than the store’s motto, but the intended effect is just as moving: Boycott Chapters/ Indigo.

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Middle East Report. by Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Diane Riskedahl

How long will the state erect military checkpoints in residential areas, treating them as though they were camps sheltering wanted people and gunmen, while all the Palestinian camps, which shelter criminals and wanted people, enjoy freedom of movement, politically, militarily and in terms of security, as though they were security islands independent of Lebanon politically, militarily and in terms of security?

—Jibran Tuwayni, al-Nahar (July 18th, 2002)

The view expressed by assassinated Lebanese Member of Parliament and editorialist Jibran Tuwayni has become depressingly familiar among Lebanese politicians since the end of the Lebanese civil war. Though Tuwayni was a firebrand of what is now the loyalist camp in Lebanese politics, his perspective is also shared by elements of the current opposition, particularly members of the parliamentary bloc loyal to former Gen. Michel Aoun. There may be more than a grain of truth in the saying that the only thing that unites the Lebanese political factions today is antipathy for the Palestinians living in their midst.

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Produced by Tania Tabar, Maha Sultan & Stefan Christoff.

This edition of Radio Tadamon! brings you to the streets, from the ongoing demonstrations throughout Canada calling for a boycott of Indigo/Chapters bookstores due to their support for Israel, to the major demonstrations in Montabello, Quebec surrounding the North American trilateral summit in August 2007.

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In its strongest condemnation of Israel since last summer’s war, Human Rights Watch said yesterday that most Lebanese civilian casualties were caused by “indiscriminate Israeli air strikes”.

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Daily Star, Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Photo: Masser. A bombing by Israel in the Bekaa valley. Lebanon, July 2006

BEIRUT: Israeli surveillance drones cut through Lebanese skies on Monday and hovered above Southern as well as Bekaa regions. The Lebanese Army reported that an Israeli surveillance drone soared above the Southern village of Alma al-Shaab at 9:30 a.m. Monday and headed north toward the Bekaa regions of Riyaq and Baalbek. The plane left Lebanese skies at around 4 p.m.

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The UK’s reputation was damaged when the government hesitated in calling for an immediate end to the Lebanon war last year, MPs have said.

At the time, then-PM Tony Blair was criticised for waiting a few weeks before eventually calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

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Photo: Joe Hastings, Cluster bomb shells dropped on Vietnam by the U.S. military.

BEIRUT: A US expert on cluster bombs said Tuesday that out of the four million cluster bomblets dropped in Lebanon by Israel during last year’s war, 1.2 million bomblets are still unexploded. Franklin Lamb of the Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace Association said Tuesday during a ceremony held to support the Lebanese victims of cluster bombs, that of the four million cluster bombs dropped in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s Southern Suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, 1.2 million still constitute a serious threat to civilians.

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Produced for Radio Tadamon! by Stefan Christoff.

Listen to an interview with the Washington editor of Harpers Magazine, Ken Silverstein, who recently published an article entitled, “Parties of God: The Bush doctrine and the rise of Islamic democracy”, which examines the current democratic developments in the Middle East within the context of the U.S. supported War on Terror.

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Photo: Montrealers gather to mark the anniversary of the Israeli attack on Lebanon.

MONTREAL: To mark the 1 year anniversary of the Israeli attack on Lebanon hundreds of people gathered in Montreal for an evening of testimonials, poetry and presentations on the impacts of the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon. One year ago, Israel launched a military assault on Lebanon, commencing a 34 day war that left more than 1300 Lebanese civilians dead, large parts of the national infrastructure destroyed and southern Lebanon littered with over one million unexploded cluster bomblets.

This Montreal community commemoration was organized by Al-Hidaya Association, Association des jeunes libanais musulmans (AJLM) and Tadamon! Montreal…

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Map: The Palestinian Bantustan Matrix, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

Is it right to declare a state before the state build its economy, its productive bases?

Is it possible for a huge bureaucratic apparatus to last while there is no local productive base to meet its enormous salaries and needs?

Is it possible to achieve freedom without sovereignty?

Is it possible to sustain democracy without independence?

These are the main reservations against Oslo Accords (OA), and against the recent elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBG) for the Palestinian Self- Rule (SR), in spite of its technical success.

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