2007

Issue 106, November/December 2007
Far from Annapolis

AS WE go to print, the Annapolis meeting is a few weeks away. The First Imperative should be to the stronger: Israel must cease to exploit Palestinian weakness in order to wring concessions. Only on that basis can the other conditions for peace have a chance: the building of a Palestinian economy and the renewal of independent Palestinian institutions.

Issue 105, September/October 2007
The Gaza Crunch

The Hamas coup in Gaza has thrown Israeli PM Ehud Olmert into bed with Palestinian President Abu Mazen. They are racing to produce a document of principles toward a two-state solution, which they hope to present in Washington in November. Neither is strong enough at home to push an agreement through, so there is talk of a "shelf" accord, that is, one that will sit on the shelf until someone is strong enough. Welcome, says our editorial, to Never Never Land.

Issue 104, July/August 2007
The Breaking of the Palestinian National Project

There is a tragic correlation between the 40th anniversary of the Occupation and the civil war in June that split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. After forty years, Israel has finally succeeded in breaking the Palestinian national project. Now we find Palestine in Suicide, as our editorial puts it, but the grim satisfaction that Israelis take in the tragedy is infected with short-sightedness: their country's national/colonial enterprise cannot long survive without a Palestinian counterpart that accepts its legitimacy.

Issue 103, May/June 2007
In the Occupation's 40th Year

An investigative committee condemns PM Ehud Olmert for haste in embarking on the second Lebanon War. The Right condemns him for not hitting Hezbollah hard enough. He wasn't willing to pay a high price in casualties, for Israel can no longer stand casualties. Yet it cannot stand, either, the price of peace, and he isn't willing to pay that either. In his Janus-faced unwillingness, Olmert is an authentic slice of post-Zionist Israel, The Leader It Deserves.

Issue 102, March/April 2007
The Mecca Charity Show

We heave a sigh of relief. The Mecca Charity Show has warded off a horrendous civil war. This wonder, says our editorial, is the result of a temporary conjunction between Iranian and Saudi interests. The peace will be just as temporary unless donations pour in from the West. Despite its apparent victory, Hamas is in a sticky wicket. And is this what the Palestinian people wants: a donations state?

Issue 101, January/February 2007
Nablus: Civil War with Brakes On

The entry of the New Year reminds us that the Palestinians elected Hamas in January 2006. This has not been a cause for widespread celebration. Fatah and Hamas maul each other in Fury, while the Palestinian people remains sunk in Apathy. In Lebanon too the tension grows between the anti-Syrian Siniora government and pro-Syrian Hezbollah. These are Two Civil Wars, claims our editorial, both still with Brakes On.