WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producer/Host: Kathleen March, University of Maine

Hello. This is Kathleen March.  Welcome to WERU’s US-EL Salvador report. This week we discuss the protests in San Salvador against Israel’s attack on the humanitarian aid ship headed to Gaza.  The report is prepared by the University of Maine in collaboration with Radio Sumpul in El Salvador and US-El Salvador Sister Cities.

El 4 de junio un grupo de simpatizantes del Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FLMN) protestó en San Salvador contra Israel por el asalto a una flota que llevaba ayuda humanitaria como alimentos y medicinas, rumbo a Gaza, causando por lo menos 9 muertos y decenas de heridos.

Los manifestantes, convocados por un comité de solidaridad con el pueblo palestino y el FMLN, se concentraron frente a la legación diplomática israelí con carteles y gritos. “Estamos pidiendo el cese del cerco a la franja de Gaza y que se retomen inmediatamente las negociaciones por la paz establecidas en los diferentes instrumentos internacionales”, declaró el diputado del FMLN Jorge Schafick, quien ha pedido que la comunidad internacional exija de Israel una solución inmediata a la situación.

Los manifestantes llevaban banderas palestinas y carteles con mensajes como: “Cese a la agresión contra los pueblos de Palestina” o “Terroristas israelíes fuera de los territorios del Líbano y Palestina”.  Schafick es hijo del fundador del FMLN, de origen palestino que murió en 2006.  Criticó el que el Parlamento salvadoreño no aprobara una iniciativa presentada por el FMLN y “otros diputados de origen palestino” sobre el tema.

La Asamblea Legislativa ha afirmado que la comisión analizará la solicitud, para que el Parlamento exprese su “profunda indignación por la acción criminal de las Fuerzas de Defensa y Gobierno del Estado de Israel en contra de los integrantes de la flotilla de la Libertad”.

Por lo menos nueve activistas de derechos humanos fallecieron durante el asalto de los militares israelíes, que tuvo lugar en la madrugada del 31 de mayo.  Cerca de 40 activistas internacionales y cinco soldados israelíes resultaron heridos.

Israel mantiene un bloqueo marítimo contra la ciudad de Gaza como represalia contra la resistencia palestina, que lleva a cabo una justa lucha por la independencia, según el deseo de Yasser Arafat.  Raúl Martínez, del Comité de Solidaridad con Cuba, dijo que “repudiamos enérgicamente este acto criminal contra una embarcación humanitaria, cometido por el ejército y gobierno israelita, gobierno fascista que también apoya el bloqueo económico contra Cuba Socialista.”  Marlon Anzora, estudiante de la UCA (Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas), explicó que “estamos aquí para solidarizarnos con el sufrido pueblo palestino, para decirle que no está solo, que la conciencia del mundo repudia este atentado terrorista de Israel, somos pueblos hermanos en el dolor y la esperanza.”

This has been Kathleen March with the WERU US-EL Salvador report. This week we discussed the protests in San Salvador against Israel’s attack on the humanitarian aid ship headed to Gaza.  The report was prepared by the University of Maine in collaboration with Radio Sumpul in El Salvador and US-El Salvador Sister Cities.

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Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Studio Engineer: Matt Murphy

A special live call-in edition of “Voices”, with listener reactions to the Israelis attack on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

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Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Today, as we wait to hear back from the most recent delegation of human rights activists to visit Gaza, we bring you an interview with Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peace activist now living in the U.S.  Meredith spoke with him in June 2009, when he was in Bangor, speaking at an event was co-sponsored by the Eastern Maine Chapter of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom (the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace) and The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at George Mason University, where Aziz Abu Sarah is a Senior Research Associate.

FMI: www.gmu.edu/departments/crdc , www.azizabusarah.wordpress.com

You can also hear the talk given by Aziz Abu Sarah (recorded by Carolyn Coe, and broadcast on WERU’s Weekend Voices in June 2009), here:  http://archives.weru.org/voices/weekend-voices-62709

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Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Contributors: Jim Fisher, Matt Murphy

Segment 1: Jim Fisher interviews Dan Kane, a Phys Ed instructor at GSA who teaches a course on Outdoor Experiential Education and Leadership every spring.  This nine minute interview describes the program and what students gain by working together outdoors.

Segment 2: We talk with a Jonathan Sherman, a high school student from southern Maine who has been keeping in touch with his Israeli and Palestinian friends he met at the “Seeds of Peace” camp.  Facebook and MySpace have allowed them to maintain contact through the recent escalation.  (FMI: www.seedsofpeace.org)

Segment 3: Highlights of a recent workshop that offered tips to help non-profits survive in today’s economy: “Navigating Rough Seas, A Community Discussion with Non-Profits on Program Sustainability”.

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Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco

Topic: 3 perspectives on Israel’s assault on Gaza, with Molly Little, Frida Berrigan & Bruce Gagnon

Segment 1: Molly Little.   In 2005, Molly Little spent three months in Israel and the West Bank, conducting interviews with Israeli peace activists, members of an Israeli kibbutz, employees of the Israeli Knesset, and people from a wide range of Palestinian society, including students, farmers, political activists, artists, public officials, teachers, and health care providers. Her articles and op-eds have appeared in Lefthook, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, The Palestine Monitor, Portland Indy Media and elsewhere.  She’ll be giving a talk next week in Bath, called “American Witness in Palestine: Roots and Realities”. (Friday, January 16 at 7:00 pm, Addams-Melman House,212 Center Street, Bath, ME) We spoke with Molly Little by phone from her home in Whitefield, Maine earlier today:

Segment 2: “War In Gaza, Weapons From the USA”, Frida Berrigan, Senior Program Associate of the “Arms and Security Initiative” at the New America Foundation, columnist for “Foreign Policy in Focus”, and a contributing editor of In These Times magazine. She is also the author of several reports on arms trade and human rights, and will talk with us today about the ties between the US and Israel.  FMI: Frida Berrigan, berrigan@newamerica.net, 212-431-5808 ext 200

Segment 3: Bruce Gagnon, a long-time organizer, currently based in Maine, for his perspective on the Peace & Justice communities response to the situation in Gaza. FMI: http://space4peace.blogspot.com/

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