From Challenge # 61
May - June 2000

• Affairs in the Middle East are converging toward a point of decision. America and Israel, writes Yacov Ben Efrat, administer Shock Therapy to Syria, while Yasser Arafat, in the view of our editorial, has become a Prisoner of Assad.
• Together with our Arabic sister al-Sabar, we expose the story of Housemaids in Gaza. It came to light when a 15-year-old Indonesian woman jumped from a fourth-floor window.
• And Again They Try to Close Us Down, writes Hadas Lahav. This time it is the Registrar of Non-Profit Associations, who's "got a little list," which shrinks as he erases Arab NPAs. One of these is Hanitzotz, Um- Challenge. Despite our non-existence, our activities seem to go on:
• read, for example, Dani Ben Simhon on our Land Day program with children in Ramya.
• While Israel streamlines its economy to enter the global village, Arab and Jewish Workers, finding a common interest at last, Unite Against a Giant. The first sign of this development, writes Assaf Adiv of the Workers Advice Center, has appeared among the drivers of Heineken's new Israeli partner, Tempo.
• No stranger to workers' struggles is Radical British Filmmaker Ken Loach, who recently came to Tel Aviv. Nir Nader talks with him about what he said here and what he didn't.
• Um al-Fahem is again on the Brink. As part of its redeployment, Israel will dismantle a huge army base on the West Bank. It only seems fair that the Arabs in Israel ought to make room for it, no? Michal Schwartz takes the temperature of the Arab city, which exploded two years ago when the army tried to grab the lands in question.
• For a broad perspective on such issues, it is good to talk with a historian. Karin Joggerst interviews Ilan Pappe about Bridging Narratives. Roni Ben Efrat, in Response, takes issue.