RSS Feed
Bread and Roses V
Annual art exhibit in Tel Aviv...
Vision of the Organization for Democratic Action
ODA-DA'AM: Reveille for the Working Class
The following piece will soon be published in Solution: Israel-Palestine, edited by Joshua Simon, Sternberg Press, Berlin - New York.
he Middle East conflict will not find a solution within the current array of forces. On the one side there is American hegemony (somewhat shaken), Israeli refusal, an internal Palestinian schism, and dictatorial Arab regimes. On the other side is extremist Islamic fundamentalism. Those who have sought a solution under these conditions have reaped, until now, intifada, blockade, the separation barrier, and war. The negotiations taking place under the auspices of the Obama Administration will not undo the stalemate. A real solution will not be possible except as part of an international social, political and economic change, affecting not just Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab world, but also the Western industrial nations that today are at the heart of the capitalist order.
RSS Feed
Subscribe to the CHALLENGE RSS feed and get a notification whenever a new article is published.
Sindyanna of Galilee
Address
P.O.B. 35252
Tel Aviv 61351
Israel
Visiting Address
Rehov Ha-Aliyah 43
Second Floor
phone +972-3-537-3268
fax +972-3-537-3269
Links
Workers' Advice Center
Sindyanna of Galilee
Etgar: our sister-publication in Hebrew
Al-Sabar: our sister-publication in Arabic
Video48: a documentary-film group
CHALLENGE is indexed by the Alternative Press Index.
The Arab spring is alive and well and living in Egypt
Assaf Adiv
n Saturday, December 17th 2011, the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia marked one year since the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, the hero of the Arab revolution. The Tunisian television network Al-Wataniya broadcast the ceremony live. Crowds armed with neither flags nor signs gathered in the main square of Sidi Bouzid. It was clear that they were there out of solidarity, not because someone forced them to march to the square on their day off. Women and men who were interviewed for the broadcast spoke in simple terms about their expectations from the elected government and from the revolution in which they took part. An especially touching interview was given by the sister of Mohamed Bouaziz, who expressed absolute sympathy with the goals of the revolution. The speakers who went up on the improvised stage all emphasized the demands that lay at the heart of the Jasmine Revolution – democracy and social justice. The Islamic movement Al-Nahda, which had recently won the election, sent one representative to the event, who received the microphone after local youths and representatives of secular movements finished speaking, and the speech he gave did not differ in content or spirit from those preceding it. more...
Dialogue with a cactus in a cottage cheese tub
by Michal Schwartz
he Bread and Roses art exhibition, in its sixth year, is the result of joint efforts by the Workers Advice Center (WAC-MAAN), Sindyanna of Galilee, and Hanitzotz Publishing House, and it is generously hosted by the Minshar School of Art in Tel Aviv. “From an artistic point of view, this year’s exhibition was broader and richer than ever” say Tami Barka’i and Nir Nader, the curators.
The Muslim Brotherhood and Democracy
by Yacov Ben Efrat
he title of this lecture suggests a contradiction. The Muslim movements are religious, basing themselves on Sharia law, and oppose democracy. Their source of authority is the Koran, while the source of democracy’s authority is human reason, individual and collective will – the people. Nonetheless, this month we celebrate one year since the Arab Spring began, and in amazement we follow the revolutions sparked by the Arab youth. These youth demanded regime-change for justice and freedom, but when change is translated into the ballot, the Muslim factions come out strong.
Like a herd of elephants
by Michal Schwartz
ike a herd of elephants, the racist legislation proposals from the Likud and Israel Beitenu are galloping through the Knesset, spreading fumes of fascism into every sphere of society (see Box below). The proposals are aimed at anything that in any way represents or provides the smallest crumb of defense for the Palestinians or their supporters: the Arabic language, the media, freedom of speech, NGOs, the Supreme Court, artists, academics and universities, and there are more on the way. At the same time, women are ejected from the public sphere, while workers such as the resident doctors and social workers are treated with ignominy and aggression. If sympathy for the communist bloc or the Arab states was once considered treasonous, today it’s enough to “denounce” Israel to Europe or the US in order to earn the title of traitor. Drunk with power, the rightwing majority in the Knesset behaves like a mob, and attempts to change the rules of the game and the character of the state. Why? Because that’s what it wants, and above all, it believes it can.
"Get to the Damn Table!"
by Yacov Ben Efrat
et to the damn table! US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta half pleaded, half ordered, thoroughly in despair as negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority remain frozen. Panetta was speaking during the recent Saban Forum, yet none of those who were really meant to hear had even come to this annual event for debating Middle East policy – neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Israel’s foreign or defense ministers. It appears they don’t give a damn about Panetta, and are not willing to accept his suggestions or reprimands. Panetta is a loser. He’s losing Iraq and getting bogged down in Afghanistan. He cooperated with Turkey to get rid of his ally Hosni Mubarak, and then got a slap in the face when Egyptian democracy granted two-thirds of the parliamentary seats to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis. He doesn’t understand a thing!
Egypt: Between Tragedy and Farce
by Yacov Ben Efrat
istory repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce, Marx famously observed. He was speaking about the time of Napoleon III in the mid-19th century, but the observation holds true for the Egyptian revolution. Tahrir Square is the same square, the youth are the same youth, and the police are the same police. Only the slogans have changed – instead of calling for the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, they are calling for resignation of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Unlike the first uprising that broke out in January, which united a wide range of forces, there is no consensus within this second wave, and it offers no clear way out of the crisis.
Requiem for the Palestinian Authority
by Yacov Ben Efrat
he Israeli government decided in mid-November 2011 to continue delaying the transfer of $100 million in tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The pleas of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and senior IDF officers didn’t help, even though they explained that the money was needed to pay the wages of the policemen responsible for security in the West Bank. The resolute positions of Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman held out – no transfers would be made. This delay is the punishment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to mete out to the PA for daring to request membership in UNESCO – and receiving it too. The UNESCO request was part of the Palestinian bid for recognition as a state at the UN Security Council – a bid seen by Israel as a declaration of war, which led the IDF to carry out a slew of exercises to prepare for a possible third intifada in September.
online 15.04.11
The Palestinian Facebook Movement:
Can it take up the baton of revolution?
by Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka
RSS Feed
Subscribe to the CHALLENGE RSS feed and get a notification whenever a new article is published.
Address
P.O.B. 35252
Tel Aviv 61351
Israel
Visiting Address
Rehov Ha-Aliyah 43
Second Floor
phone +972-3-537-3268
fax +972-3-537-3269
Links
Workers' Advice Center
Sindyanna of Galilee
Etgar: our sister-publication in Hebrew
Al-Sabar: our sister-publication in Arabic
Video48: a documentary-film group
CHALLENGE is indexed by the Alternative Press Index.
