Home
Challenge # 73
May-June 2002
In This Issue
THE MIDDLE EAST has irrevocably changed. In this issue we
try to come to grips with the new reality. We do so both in our editorial,
While
Palestine Burns, and in a thorough analysis by Yacov Ben Efrat:
From
Statelet to Protectorate – The Palestinian Tragedy Continues. The elimination
of the PA as a security partner in the West Bank has resulted in a vacuum.
It will likely be filled by a new form of governance over the Palestinians:
an American-led international protectorate. The author analyses the mistakes
that have led to this pass, from the failure of the Palestinian leadership
at Oslo to the miscalculations of the second Intifada. He re-assesses the
validity of the "national" cause in the post-Soviet reality.
Israel's military invasion has included a new twist: the wholesale arrest
of males between the ages of 15 and 60 for the purpose of determining whether
there is reason to arrest them. Attorney Yossi Wolfson describes the conditions,
illegal under international law, in which the army holds these Unsuspected
Suspects.
Not every Israeli buys into the new wave of patriotism. Orit Sudri and
Tamar Glezerman talk with three young conscientious objectors, who declare
that they will be Slaves of Memory No More.
The Workers Advice Center continues its campaign to re-open the doors
of the building trade to unemployed Arab construction workers. In A
Job to Win (Chapter 2) Assaf Adiv describes the desperate attempts
of Israeli contractors to cling to the easy profits of globalization.
In March the Japanese solidarity group, Palestine Olive, invited two
of our number to speak. As a result, we now have "Friends
of Challenge" in Japan, which will help us reach new subscribers
and friends.
Please note: Our next issue will be slightly delayed, reaching European
and American subscribers in mid-July.
