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From Challenge # 84  March - April 2004

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In This Issue 

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to “disconnect” Israel “unilaterally” from the Gaza Strip. Is he serious? Is the move feasible? Or is this a ploy to get Palestinian concessions for a long-term interim agreement? Our editorial examines the complexities of his Gaza Striptease.

Mired in scandal and politically paralyzed, Sharon is desperate, but so is the Palestinian side. The PA is losing control, and Fatah has splintered into warring factions. The Territories are in chaos – fauda in Arabic. Lacking a program or strategy, the Intifada has become an Inti-fauda.

We see the effect at Checkpoint Erez, dubbed Checkpoint Death by the 15,000 Gazan Workers who try to get through each morning. Caught between paranoid Israeli soldiers and the actions of maverick Palestinian militias, their lives have become impossible. We talked to some of these men a few days before one of their number was crushed to death in the throng at Erez. WAC is working with the Gazan trade unions to free these Hostages of the Conflict. (Cover photo by Bassam Zamel)

When Israel’s Separation Wall Goes to The Hague, the whole Occupation is on Trial. The wall is Israel’s latest method for fulfilling the original purpose of the settlements: to annex as much land to Israel with as few Palestinians as possible. Even if built on the Green Line, though, it will transform the West Bank into a prison.

Looking farther afield, we note that the Muslim headscarf is dazzling Europe, returning color to the cheeks of Islamic fundamentalists. Manal Jabour sees The Veil as A Wrong-Headed Response to the Radical Right. She offers another approach to the problem of anti-Arab racism.

We close this issue with pictures from our cultural center, Bamat Etgar, which has established a stage at our quarters in Jaffa “to Catch the Conscience of the King!”  

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