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To say Gaza City and the Gaza Strip, that thin slice of remnant Palestine walled on three sides by Israel and Egypt, patrolled with deadly seriousness from the sea, and whose airspace is entirely controlled by Israel’s air force, is in crisis is labouring the obvious.
Targeted by a ruthless campaign of managed starvation by Israel, the so-called “Gaza Diet” has ensured an entire generation of children will be stunted physically and intellectually, while deliberate and repeated attacks by Israel’s military guarantee emotional trauma.
But, things in Gaza have taken a dramatic turn for the worse since political turmoil in neighbouring Egypt closed the Rafah border, and the military Junta there began a program of systematic destruction of the tunnels that had supplied Gaza with the necessities of life Israel’s illegal embargo routinely denies.
Eva Bartlett landed in Gaza with one of the only Gaza Boats able to break Israel’s blockade in 2008. She stayed on with the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM, as an accompanier in time to suffer the horrific Cast Lead bombardment, and to bear witness daily to Gazans’ tribulations in their homes and streets, in the farmers’ fields, and on the fishers’ boats, subject to the caprices of Israel’s naval forces. Eva will be speaking here this Wednesday November 27th at the University of Victoria as part of ‘Gaza in Crisis: Eyewitness Reports’.
Eva Bartlett in the first half.
And; Oak Bay council recently decided to launch an “experimental” deer culling program aimed at “controlling” urban deer. Predictably, the decision is controversial, and one group opposed to the scheme held demonstrations in Oak Bay over the weekend. DeerSafeVictoria says the cull plan is cruel, and will ultimately prove ineffective. I went down to the demonstration to talk to some of the people involved.
Deer hunting behind the tweed curtain in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what’s good to do in and around our city’s streets, and beyond too.
But first, Eva Bartlett and an escalating crisis in Gaza.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.