http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/home CHALLENGE is a leftist magazine focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within a global context. Published in Tel Aviv, it features political analysis, investigative reporting, interviews, eye-witness reports, gender studies, arts, and more. Its editorial staff includes Jews and Arabs. en Sun, 5 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300 Sun, 5 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300 s.CMS http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/challenge.rss contact@challenge-mag.com 2010 CHALLENGE, Tel Aviv At last it is happening. U.S. President Barack Obama has opened direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians. All American presidents since Carter have tried for peace and failed, each failure resulting in blood. Responsibility is heavy therefore on the shoulders of the leaders, whether or not they feel its weight. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__272/the_peace_talks_consensus_vs_consensus Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__272/the_peace_talks_consensus_vs_consensus Sun, 5 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300 The crisis in the relationship between Israel and Turkey reached a head following the IDF raid on the flotilla to Gaza at the end of last May, during which nine IHH activists were killed. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his full support to the flotilla, using anti-Israel rhetoric which boosted his popularity in the Arab world. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__271/erdogan_and_israel_glitch_or_rupture? Assaf Adiv http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__271/erdogan_and_israel_glitch_or_rupture? Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0300 The international reaction to the killing of nine activists on the deck of the Mavi Marmara sent Israel into a state of shock. That reaction expressed the international community's loathing for the right-wing administration of Binyamin Netanyahu and for the years of Israel's aggressive rule over Palestinian lives. Long years of foot dragging in talks with the Palestinians, the continuing settlement construction, the project of judaizing Jerusalem, the roadblocks and checkpoints preventing freedom of movement, the separation barrier in the West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip—all these have engendered an almost wall-to-wall international consensus against the Israeli occupation. In response to this reaction, Israel was forced to lighten its Gaza blockade significantly, to establish its own commission to investigate the flotilla debacle, and it has now agreed to participate in a United Nations investigation as well. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__270/after_the_flotilla_a_survey_of_the_regional_and_local_situation Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__270/after_the_flotilla_a_survey_of_the_regional_and_local_situation Wed, 4 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0300 The march for the release of Gilad Shalit, which began from his family home in Mizpeh Hila and is destined for the Prime Minister's house in Jerusalem, is winning public support for the notion that Israel should "pay the price." And what is the price? PM Binyamin Netanyahu listed the demands of Shalit's captors on Thursday, July 1, 2010, in a speech to the nation. Hamas, he said, wants a thousand prisoners in exchange, including 450 "heavies" convicted of violent crimes against Israelis. The remaining gaps between the sides are two: (1) Among the 450 are men from the West Bank, and Israel wants to keep them out of there, far from its major cities, by deporting them to Gaza or abroad. Their return to the West Bank, it also claims, could turn the strategic balance against Palestinian Authority ([b]PA[/b]) President Abu Mazen. (2) There are ten on the Hamas list who Israel isn't willing to release, but Hamas insists. The fate of these ten will show which side has the upper hand. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__269/the_trouble_with_the_march_for_gilad_shalit Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__269/the_trouble_with_the_march_for_gilad_shalit Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0300 The past year has witnessed two cases in the religious schools where ultraorthodox Jews of West European descent (Ashkenazis) discriminated against ultraorthodox Jews of darker hues. In August 2009, private religious schools in Petach Tikva refused to admit Ethiopian Jews. In response, the Education Ministry threatened to withdraw financial support for these schools and even to shut them down. In this way it compelled them to admit a hundred pupils. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__268/the_ghetto_in_the_ghetto Michal Schwartz http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__268/the_ghetto_in_the_ghetto Sun, 4 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0300 The IDF takeover of the Turkish humanitarian flotilla has shaken everything up. Israel finds itself blockaded too: an unprecedented international diplomatic siege. An apparently local incident lacking any military or political importance has turned into an entanglement of far-reaching strategic significance. Turkey, Israel’s loyal regional ally for the past 60 years, darling of the West, has switched sides – friend to enemy – becoming the radical Arab camp’s most prominent spokesperson, supporter of Hamas, and proponent of the legitimacy of Hamas’ hold on the Gaza Strip. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__267/guide_to_ending_the_siege_of_gaza Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__267/guide_to_ending_the_siege_of_gaza Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0300 Aweek ago (May 18, 2010) it was reported that the government of Qatar had offered to renew diplomatic ties with Israel in exchange for Israel permitting the entry of construction materials to the Gaza Strip, to rebuild what Israel had destroyed during “Operation Cast Lead.” Inside Israel, a debate rapidly developed between those in favor of accepting the offer and those against. After intense deliberation, Israel unsurprisingly refused. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__266/gaza_bargaining_chip_in_political_game Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__266/gaza_bargaining_chip_in_political_game Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0300 Israel's attempt to divert argument away from its blockade on Gaza, and over to the resistance that its troops encountered while attacking the Blue Marmara, is futile and grotesque. Let's suppose for a moment that its commandos were attacked, as Israel claims, while invading this ship in the Freedom Flotilla. Here you have soldiers sent to prevent civilians from breaking a siege, while there you have 1.5 million Palestinians caught in a three-year humanitarian catastrophe. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__265/after_the_flotilla_of_blood_no_more_excuses_for_israel Yacov Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__265/after_the_flotilla_of_blood_no_more_excuses_for_israel Fri, 4 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0300 If anyone still believed that US President Bill Clinton could serve as a fair mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the latest bridging proposal ought to have ended the illusion. Arab journalists dub it "the Israeli document adopted by Clinton." This criticism derives, in part, from a steep rise in the threshold of Palestinian demands. But not only that. The Clinton proposal marks a retreat from past official American positions. Here are three examples: http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__262/camp_david_in_july_2000_what_went_wrong Roni Ben Efrat http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__262/camp_david_in_july_2000_what_went_wrong Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0300 Every few months politicians and economists beat their breasts over the fact that Israel's 1.5 million Arabs have so little share in the economy. They are 20% of the population, but they contribute only 8% to the GDP. http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__264/the_arab_sector_israels_springboard_into_the_oecd? Assaf Adiv http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__264/the_arab_sector_israels_springboard_into_the_oecd? Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0300