The second hudna (truce) between the Palestinians and their occupiers underlines the staggering and ridiculous state of the so-called “peace process”. Every time an incident occurs, the chorus from all directions can be heard that it “may endanger the peace process.” Nothing much has changed recently, except that the “hudna” has taken the place of the “peace process” in this sterile game. But dealing with them as if they were real has served an important political purpose for those who certainly know better. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah says that all the diplo-babble about the truce may be soothing, but blinds us from seeing the cancer grow beyond cure. Read more about The hudna no one wants 

Abdel Rahman sat on a sand dune near the northern borders of the Gaza Strip, looking around the vast expanses of land that was once the Jewish settlement Eli Sinai. He moved his sight northwards over to the distant Israeli city of Ashkelon, and released a sigh. “This area was my main base of operations. We were very rich, but the fighting brought our business to its knees,” he said. Abdel Rahman once headed a large car theft ring in Gaza. He said he was not afraid of Palestinian and Israeli law enforcements. He said his “business” brought benefits to both sides and supported many families along the way. Stealing Israeli cars and smuggling them to Gaza emerged notably after the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993. Read more about Ex-car thief aims to revive business in Gaza 

The United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, wrote in a report in August this year, with respect to human rights in the Palestinian territories, that “the quality of education has deteriorated because schools have been obliged to shorten teaching hours as a result of wall gate-opening times. Furthermore, children are forced to drop out of school either to help supplement diminishing family incomes or because their parents can no longer afford to send them to school.” The wall blocks free access to schools on both sides of the wall. Traversing checkpoints on the way to school or university is a burden to both students and teachers. Read more about The Wall - an obstacle to educating Palestinian youth 

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran committed a diplomatic blunder when he told a student gathering in Tehran that “Israel must be wiped off the map.” Iranian authorities themselves realised the extent of the miscalculation and decided to back off. But says EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah, we cannot simply condemn Iran while ignoring the context in which Iran itself is under constant military threat from its neighbors and the United States. The episode demonstrates once again that double standards, not international law, continue to dictate the agenda of the “international community.” Read more about Iran's blunders and counterblunders 

Debate and reportage from Israel-Palestine continue anxiously to focus on the symptoms, rather than the deeper direction, of the conflict. Media controversy whirls about how the Palestinians can navigate the immense challenges of the Gaza withdrawal, the electoral challenge from Hamas, and whether the PA can contain wildcat militancy. It even still whirls about whether the Sharon government intends to withdraw West Bank settlements or build them up-an impressively naive concern. But these controversies distract us from an underlying reality far more earth-shaking. Read more about "If You Will It, It is No Dream": Embracing the Anti-Apartheid Struggle in Israel/Palestine 

From Sharon’s point of view it’s a done deal. Israel has won its century-old conflict with the Palestinians. Surveying the landscape - physical and political alike - the Israeli Prime Minister has finally fulfilled the task with which he was charged 38 years ago by Menachem Begin: ensure permanent Israel control over the entire Land of Israel while foreclosing the emergence of a viable Palestinian state. Still, Israel needs a Palestinian state. Although the annexation of the settlement blocs gives Israel complete control over the entire country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, it needs to “get rid of” the almost four million Palestinian residents to which it can neither give citizenship nor keep in a state of permanent bondage. Read more about Setting up Abbas 

On 26 September 2005, the Palestinian Counseling Centre (the PCC) announced the results of a survey on the psychological implications of the construction of the wall on people from five villages in the Qalqilya district. In 2003, the PCC conducted a pilot study, which was followed by the survey from early 2004 to August 2005. The study showed a proportional relationship between exposure to the wall and the occurrence of nightmares and aggressive behaviour in adolescents and children. The PCC’s study makes it clear that the wall has an impact on the mental health of adults and children. According to the PCC, the wall can be seen as a construction meant to confine and isolate people, which are the key characteristics of a prison. Read more about The Wall and the psychological impact on children