Getting out of the Gaza Strip is an old dream of the majority in Israeli society. Even before the Oslo agreements in 1993, the call to get out of there was heard after every terror attack. Today, according to the polls, it has the support of 60-70% of the Israelis. But governments come and fall, and still, this majority has not found the political power to realize its will. But now, so the papers say, we have finally reached a historical turn. The majority is asked to believe that of all Israeli leaders, it is Sharon who will get us out of Gaza. Israeli professor Tanya Reinhart looks at the reality. Read more about Sharon's 'Disengagement': A Pacifier for the Majority 

“Crushed into the earth, her face torn and her head fractured, Rachel spoke her last words to her devastated friends: ‘I think my back is broken.’ Within the hour, Rachel Corrie, US citizen, aged 23, was dead, the victim of a murder committed in broad day light. With her killing, ISM activsts and all who share their humanitarian goals grounded in universal principles of justice and equality, had been been put on notice by the Israeli Defence Forces that their collective backbone could be broken.” EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani asks what Rachel Corrie’s life and death can tell us about achieving human rights and justice in the Middle East. Read more about One Year Later: Whose back is that strong? 

Mohandas Gandhi once said that: “We must become the change that we seek in the world.” In Palestine, the change that people of conscience seek is the elevation of justice to the condition of reality. With the rise of the Internet and modern information technology more generally, fewer and fewer individuals, particularly in post-industrial societies, can credibly claim ignorance about the plight of suffering human beings all across this planet. AAPER’s George Naggiar examines the spirit of Rachel Corrie and the call to not just seek, but to become justice. Read more about One Year Later: Rachel Corrie as Justice Itself 

A year has passed since Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, was killed by an Israel army bulldozer while nonviolently trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian house in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. During this time, the Israeli government has strenuously sought to obscure the circumstances of Rachel’s death and prevent an independent investigation. It has even refused to release its June 2003 military police investigation final report to the United States, only allowing an American embassy official to read and take notes from selected parts. Read more about One Year Later: Rachel Corrie's Critics Fire Blanks 

“My response to the query ‘Why don’t you stick to a ‘Jewish’ cause,’ is that seeking justice for the Palestinians is, in fact, the Jewish cause. When major crimes are being committed in my name, if I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning, I don’t want to see the reflection of a Jew who displays malignant indifference while Sharon uses methods of barbarism against the Palestinians. Rather, I want to see the reflection of an ordinary decent Jew who reacts to Israeli crimes by saying loudly and clearly, “Stop! You do not speak or act in my name.” Shifra Eva Stern, a researcher and writer, explains her commitment to justice for the Palestinian people. Read more about Why seeking justice for the Palestinians is the Jewish cause 

When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his decision to withdraw unilaterally from the Gaza Strip and dismantle 17 settlements, there was reason, one might think, for celebration in certain quarters. Yet few rejoiced. There is the uneasy feeling that his words do not bode an end to the 37-year-old Occupation, rather further entanglement. Some call the would-be withdrawal an escape, some call it a threat against the Palestinians, and some call it a means to strengthen Israel’s hold on the West Bank. One thing it is not: a step toward resolving the conflict. An editorial from Challenge magazine explains why. Read more about Gaza Striptease