Do I Divest?
By Desmond Tutu, Palestine Chronicle, October 17, 2002
The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the past century, but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure — in particular the divestment movement of the 1980s. Over the past six months, a similar movement has taken shape, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation. Divestment from apartheid South Africa was fought by ordinary people at the grassroots. Faith-based leaders informed their followers, union members pressured their companies’ stockholders and consumers questioned their store owners. Students played an especially important role by compelling universities to change their portfolios. Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the South African government thought twice about its policies.

A boycott that signals bad news
Editorial, Ha'aretz, October 16, 2002
The demand of the French customs authorities that Jordan Valley farmers mark their products as "Produce of Palestine" is a sign of bad news. The assessment in Israel is that the French customs authorities will widen the demand to other manufacturers operating beyond the Green Line, because the EU countries are going to toughen their stand on such products and may even tax Israel for them.

Discrimination won't help growth
By Momi Dahan, Ha'aretz, October 16, 2002
"The missing budgets for education in the Arab sector and the lack of equal employment opportunities for Arabs in the public sector prevents Arab citizens from reaching their potential and it hurts Israel's economic growth.": Most of the main events of the Israeli economy over the last two years have been shaped by elements outside the economic arena: the terror attacks by the Palestinians and the world economic slowdown. One of the main tasks now facing the economic decision makers in the treasury and the central bank is to avoid making mistakes that will make the economy collapse. Up until a few months ago it appeared the economic leadership was making every conceivable mistake on the way to an economic crisis.

Dignity is earned, not given
By Reem Mohammed Al-Faisal, Arab News, October 18, 2002
I have been silent for a few months, tired of returning to the same old issues in my articles and despairing of ever finding any echoes of hope. It is very debilitating mentally when you see that everything we say or do in the Arab and Muslim world comes to nothing. We have become little more than a bit of headline news repeated over and over until the world is bored to death with us.

Understanding the Political Process in the US
By James Zogby, Palestine Chronicle, October 17, 2002
Politics in America is like a game, a deadly serious game with very real consequences. There are rules to the game and there are things you must do to play. The stakes are high and the rewards great. If you win, you have the ability to shape policy and priorities you can bend them to meet your needs. Those who don’t understand the realties of US politics, falsely assume that policy and politics are unrelated. They see policy purely as a function of interests. In fact, policy is shaped by both interests and politics. Our elections are about power — the power to define the policy agenda. And the reason why special interest groups spend so much money and do so much work is precisely because they want to influence the policies and priorities of those whom their money and work helped to elect.

Present absentees
By Isabelle Humphries, YellowTimes, October 18, 2002
(YellowTimes.org) – A decade ago, Palestinian refugees remaining inside the borders of 1948 Palestine came to the collective realization that their right to return was not on the international agenda. Negotiations at Madrid 1991 failed to acknowledge the struggle of thousands of Palestinian refugees who were given Israeli citizenship in 1948, but are classified by the Jewish state as "Present Absentees." The situation for Palestinian refugees living inside Israel is not simply a question of demanding minority rights, but is part of the wider conflict, and thus must be addressed as part of a resolution. Isabelle Humphries reports for IslamOnline.net from the destroyed Galilee village of Saffuriyya: Saffuriyya, larger than the nearest district town of Nazareth, was famous in Roman times as "Sepphoris" with the remains of a coliseum still visible today. Today the hill of Saffuriyya is covered with a pine forest planted by the Jewish National Fund and commemorating such random events as Guatemalan Independence Day. Daher al-Umar's somewhat dilapidated fortress still stands, but it is no longer surrounded by a Palestinian village. The Israeli settlement of Tzippori nestles in the hills, welcoming tourists to visit its historical Roman paradise, with no acknowledgement of the recent history of the ethnic cleansing of a whole village.