Satire

It's Tuesday December 19th.

Environment Canada is forecasting mild temperatures for the week, meaning most Canadians east of Alberta will likely NOT experience a white Christmas.

Currently, the Conservative government sees this as an opportunity to re-brand its much-criticized inaction on climate change as environmentally progressive. They'll be the party to promise a "Green Christmas".

This is The Current.

Palestinian Analyst – Now

At least three people are dead after gun battles raged between Hamas Loyalists and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces in the Gaza Strip early today. Schools are closed, frightened people are staying indoors and the number of people being kidnapped by each faction continues to change.

Internal Palestinian fighting has escalated since Mr. Abbas called for early elections on the weekend ostensibly hoping to break the political stalemate between his Fatah party and the one holding political power, Hamas. Nabil Shaath is a member of the Palestinian Parliament for the Fatah Party. We heard from him with how he justified his party's position.

Hamas says it would consider an early election illegal, and would boycott the process. To examine how Palestinians arrived at this current impasse we reached Ashraf Nubani. He is a U.S. lawyer of Palestinian descent, who defended a Hamas leader in U.S. court facing extradition to Israel in 1995. Today we reached him at his home in Washington D.C.

Palestinian Analyst – Future

There are many players behind the scenes from Khalid Meshal, the Hamas leader in Damascus to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the U.S. Administration to the President of Syria who is making noises about trying to intervene.

Watching this all with increasing alarm is Mahdi Abdul-Hadi. He heads the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs in Jerusalem.

Listen to The Current: Part 1

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 2

Pine Beetle Doc

The mountain pine beetle is about the size of a grain of rice but some say its become a weapon of mass destruction for Canadian forests. The beetle has chewed its way through more than half the lodgepole pine in British Columbia - creating a multi-billion dollar natural disaster that's far from over.

The government estimates that 80 per cent of the trees will be dead within the next six years. Now the bug is on the move, faster than anticipated, into Alberta and beyond. And according to some, there's not much people can do to prevent the beetle from chewing its way all across the boreal forest to Labrador.

The CBC's Jim MacQuarrie has been following the story. He joined us from our Edmonton studio.

Music Bridge

Artist: Bedouin Soundclash
CD: Sounding a Mosaic
Cut: CD 5 "Gyasi Went Home"
Label: Stomp Records
Spine #: STMP043

Listen to The Current: Part 2

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 3

Robert Fisk

Well, earlier in the program we heard from Palestinians about the turmoil taking place in Gaza. And for those covering the Middle East its been a tumultuous year, from the war in Lebanon to sectarian fighting in Iraq.

Robert Fisk has a front-row seat to the political theatre of the region. The 30-year veteran journalist is based in Beirut, and is the Middle East correspondent for Britain's The Independent newspaper. His most recent book is The Great War for Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East.

We've invited him back to our Toronto studio to talk about a range of issues facing the region including the rise of Hamas, the future of Iraq and the politics of the Armenian Holocaust.

Last Word – DAM Song

We started off the program talking about the clash over leadership in the Palestinian Authority.

DAM is a musical group of three young Palestinians who blend rap along with Middle Eastern melodies. They have lots to say about politics in the region, singing in Arabic on everything from corruption, to terrorism to living under Occupation in their songs.

We ended the show with a song off their new CD, “Dedication” called "Change Tomorrow".

Music

Artist: DAM
CD: “Dedication”
Cut: "Change Tomorrow"
Label: Red Circle

Listen to The Current: Part 3

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

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