2004

Issue 88, November/December 2004
Dramatic Changes, Stubborn Realities

The illness of Yasser Arafat opens the Bag of Aeolus: our editorial takes the measure of its winds. Will they bear us to the long-sought Ithaca or throw us against the shoals? When we look at Palestinian expectations, as against what Israel is willing to give, we bet on the shoals.

Issue 87, September/October 2004
Throes of Disengagement

The Disengagement Plan is causing Throes both in the party of its author, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, and in Fatah, the movement of PA President Yasser Arafat. Sharon is close to losing his Knesset majority, in which case Israel will have to hold new elections. In Gaza, the mere possibility of Israeli withdrawal has opened the question of who will rule after.

Issue 86, July/August 2004
Imperial Misconceptions

Beware the Misconceptions of the mighty, we write in our editorial. The Pentagon has been permeated by costly misconceptions about Iraq: from WMD to the happy consequences of American occupation. Israel, a regional power, has been permeated by a misconception of its own: the belief that there is "no Palestinian partner". This myth helped give rise, we claim, to the current Intifada. Now it has engendered another dangerous step: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to disengage unilaterally from Gaza.