In and around Israel’s “capital of the Qassam rockets,” where Moshe Behar teaches, the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections has left Israelis as divided as always. While some think that it can be a positive development others deem this wishful thinking and believe the existing Israeli-Palestinian gridlock will continue for years to come. If the Quartet genuinely cares for the wellbeing of us, Israelis and Palestinians, they should cease playing the game of lopsided demands. For any hope to bring us nearer to a just and peaceful settlement, reciprocal demands should be made not just on the democratically elected representatives of the stateless occupied society, but also on those of the occupying state. Read more about Singling out the Palestinians? Reciprocal demands are the key to peace 

Suspended between life and death in a permanent coma, Ariel Sharon cannot undo, acknowledge, or apologize for all the blood he shed. All conscious (and conscientious) Israelis still have, however, an opportunity to make amends, affirm justice, and redeem the message of Judaism, rather than remaining oppressors of a people possessing nothing but their threadbare dignity. Maybe it is time to give law a chance. If Israelis wish to remain the inheritors of Judaism’s rich legacy, rather than increasingly shrill and unconvincing defenders of the worst excesses of Zionism, they should speak up now, before the Israeli elections next month. Read more about Give law a chance 

The Church of England’s most senior decision-making body, the General Synod, voted to disinvest from “companies profiting from the illegal occupation [of Palestine]”. Caterpillar manufactures D9 bulldozers used by the Israeli armed forces for house demolitions. The decision follows examination by the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) of whether the shares currently held in Caterpillar were consistent with the Church’s ethical investment policy, which prohibits investment in arms companies or companies making “weapons platforms” such as naval vessels or tanks. Read more about Church of England votes to divest from Caterpillar 

The Jewish state uses Jerusalem to define itself in the ever expanding city. All buildings, including new ones, have to be made of stone in order to show the eternal Jewish presence, in this process Jerusalem’s Palestinian past is being appropriated. Malkit Shoshan, director of FAST (the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory), and Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot, examine the ways in which planning is being used to create this fantasy heritage for Israel, at the expense of Palestinian culture. The village of Lifta, which lies just outside Jerusalem, has been abandoned since the Israeli army drove out the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. Read more about Reinventing Lifta (2/2) 

The Jewish state uses Jerusalem to define itself in the ever expanding city. All buildings, including new ones, have to be made of stone in order to show the eternal Jewish presence, in this process Jerusalem’s Palestinian past is being appropriated. Malkit Shoshan, director of FAST (the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory), and Eitan Bronstein, director of Zochrot, examine the ways in which planning is being used to create this fantasy heritage for Israel, at the expense of Palestinian culture. The village of Lifta, which lies just outside Jerusalem, has been abandoned since the Israeli army drove out the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948. Read more about Reinventing Lifta (1/2) 

Welcome to the third Palestinian intifada. The first was with stones, the second a mix between non-violent and more violent means, and this one via a ballot box. With Hamas’ landslide victory in the Palestinian elections breaking years of political stagnation, we are witnessing, right before our eyes, a chapter of history being made. In an attempt to make sense of the rapidly moving situation following the elections, I pose the following for consideration. Three ironies, three potential failures and three challenges. Read more about The Third Intifada 

Most attention surrounding the 25 January 2006 election has focused upon the sweeping victory of Hamas at the polls, and with good reason. But there are other aspects to this year’s election that will also leave permanent impressions upon the future of Palestinian national activity. Among the 132 Palestinians who won seats in the Legislative Council, 15 of them are prisoners. 14 are imprisoned in Israeli jails, and one sits in a Palestinian administered jail in Jericho, with CIA and British Intelligence oversight. 11 of them are affiliated with Hamas, 3 with Fateh, and one with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Read more about A Parliament of Prisoners 

After Hamas’ election victory, the organization’s exiled leader Khaled Meshal wrote an article that was printed in several western newspapers. EI contributor Saree Makdisi says “what was refreshing about Meshal’s piece was his use of a defiant language of struggle—one appropriate to their desperate circumstances—rather than the meaningless, empty, bankrupt language all but handed to current and previous Palestinian leaders by a team of American and Israeli script-writers.” Makdisi writes that whether one disagrees with Hamas or not, the article reminds us of the importance of redefining the Palestinian struggle and the language used to shape it. Read more about Politics, Language and the Palestinians 

Khaled Mishal, the head of the Hamas political bureau writes that Palestinian voters chose his party “because of its pledge never to give up the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and its promise to embark on a programme of reform.” “Our message to the US and EU governments is this”, he writes, “your attempt to force us to give up our principles or our struggle is in vain. Our people who gave thousands of martyrs, the millions of refugees who have waited for nearly 60 years to return home and our 9,000 political and war prisoners in Israeli jails have not made those sacrifices in order to settle for close to nothing.” Read more about We will not sell our people or principles for foreign aid 

“The best baklava is made by the Arabs in Jaffa,” insists the Mossad case officer to his chief agent in charge of assassinating those Palestinians Israel claims planned the Munich operation of 1972. Besides being excellent baklava-makers, we learn little else in Steven Spielberg’s film “Munich” about Jaffa’s Palestinians, the majority of whom were pushed into the sea by Zionist forces in May 1948. Columbia University professor and EI contributor Joseph Massad examines Spielberg’s film and finds that it continues a tradition started by Otto Preminger’s 1960 film “Exodus,” and ultimately serves to justify rather than question Israeli terrorism and violence. Read more about Munich, or Making Baklava