From Challenge # 76 November-December 2002

In This Issue 

While we were putting the last touches on this Challenge, Israel's national-unity government fell. At the level where difference is needed, however, all parties remain in agreement. They agree, for example, on the desirability of an American war against Iraq. In Sowing the Whirlwind: Israel, America and the Coming War, we explore how US policies intersect with those of Israel: the one a declining empire striving to regain preeminence, the other a declining regional power seeking to benefit from a major re-shaping of the Middle East. The intersection is also the theme of a piece called Israel's Economy: Bush to the Rescue.

The Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow, consisting largely of liberal Mizrahi Jews, has found a sympathetic ear at Israel's High Court of Justice. The latter has ruled that the (mainly Ashkenazi) communal settlements cannot get exclusive benefit from the sale of the lands they are on. Such a rare stroke of justice is possible only when the original owners of the lands are excluded from consideration. Thanks to the Court, there will be a Redividing of the Spoils, the result of an Intra-Jewish Squabble over Arab Lands.

The Arabs in Israel are under attack on another front. Establishing a precedent, the Interior Minister has Voided an Arab's Citizenship, reminding all that they are Citizens on Probation.

Jaffa's Baqa Center runs a program entitled "Art in the Community". Photography student Galit Hinon gave three girls (ages 11-13) her camera for a year, meeting with them weekly. Their photographs formed Hinon's graduate project at Camera Obscura, a Tel Aviv college for the arts. The result is a view of  Jaffa from Inside.

On a day of solidarity, the Forum Supporting Conscientious Objectors flew Kites Above Military Prison # 6. Between prison terms, Forum member Yoni Yehezkel met with Challenge and described his feelings on seeing the kites from the prison courtyard. The Forum is distributing a Petition among refusers against the war with Iraq (see it at www.matzpoon.org). Sixty CO's have signed so far.

And see our campaign for Sindyanna soap from Nablus!

[Home | Archive| Subscribe]