The pace of events in our region often outruns imagination.
In the recent Palestinian election campaign, for instance, no one – least
of all Hamas – expected a Hamas landslide. It may turn out to be A
Victory Too Many. We interview Number 2 on the winning list,
Muhammad Abu Tir, who reminds us that
“Mere talk doesn’t get concessions from
Israel.”
While Fatah behaves as though still in power, Hamas speaks as though still
in opposition. Our editorial calls for Reality Now!
Israel, for its
part, will go to the ballot box on March 28. We examine the precarious
situation of the Arab parties. The proportion of votes a list must receive
to enter the Knesset has been raised to 2%. Facing this new threshold, the
Arab parties shudder. They are Nervous, but not
enough to Unite.
Gaby Lasky,
On the Left End of Meretz, is a new face in that party’s election
list. Interviewed by our sister publication in Hebrew, Etgar, she
explains the positions that Meretz has taken – from supporting Oslo to
backing the Sharon government on disengagement.
The poverty rate
in Israel, especially among Arabs, makes what was
Once the
mere Concept of a Workers’ Party into a Necessity (pdf). ODA’s
first two candidates, Asma Agbarieh and Nir Nader, elucidate the party’s
principle of
Putting the
Worker Front and Center (pdf).
While tremors
shake the political earth, Occupation dominates the lives of 2.5 million
in the West Bank. Nowhere does this show up so palpably as at the military
checkpoints. The courageous women of Machsom Watch are there to
witness. “No one,” they remark, “will be
able to say ‘I didn’t know.’”
Video 48 has
made a short documentary for the World Health Organization. It peers into
an abandoned, unfinished shopping Mall near Tel Aviv: six stories
of bare concrete beneath the ground. Here 400 Palestinian breadwinners,
who sneak into Israel in search of jobs, spend their weekday nights. They
feel they have neither choice nor hope of change. “In the dark,”
they say, “you can’t see far.”
n
Challenge may now be
reached at P.O.B. 35252, Tel Aviv 61351, Israel (visiting address: Rehov
Ha-Aliyah 43, Second Floor). The new phone number is 972-3-537-3268. Fax:
972-3-537-3269.
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