Here is the "next thing" in the war against terror: the war against hairdressers. After Hamas took over half the Palestinian people, in no small measure because of Israel's policies, after we tried to fight Hamas with weapons and siege, destruction and killing, mass arrests and deportations, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service have invented something new: a war on shopping malls, bakeries, schools and orphanages. First in Hebron, now in Nablus. The IDF is closing beauty salons, clothing stores and clinics, and even one dairy farm, all on the pretext that they are connected to Hamas, or the rent they pay is given to a terror organization. 

I thought they would feel right at home in the alleys of Balata refugee camp, the Casbah and the Hawara checkpoint. But they said there is no comparison: for them the Israeli occupation regime is worse than anything they knew under apartheid. This week, 21 human rights activists from South Africa visited Israel. Among them were members of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress; at least one of them took part in the armed struggle and at least two were jailed. There were two South African Supreme Court judges, a former deputy minister, members of Parliament, attorneys, writers and journalists. Blacks and whites, about half of them Jews who today are in conflict with attitudes of the conservative Jewish community in their country. Some of them have been here before; for others it was their first visit. 

Zionism, Militarism and the Decline of US Power by James Petras challenges the claims of Zionist apologists who argue that the ‘Israel power configuration’ is just another lobby by empirically examining several major US policies.

Criticizing and exposing the powerful public role of American Zionism in shaping US policy in the Middle East is the biggest taboo in US politics. Politicians, academics, journalists, prelates and ordinary American citizens who publicly voice their dissent are targeted for political purges, denied academic tenure, and access to the mass media and scurrilously labeled as ‘anti-Semites’ by the Zionist power configuration.

A Palestinian man argues with an Israeli soldier during a protest against the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank village of Deir Al-Ghosoun, near Tulkarem. (Mouid Ashqar, Maan Images)

In the circles of Middle East peacemaking it is called "coexistence", the often difficult and usually pioneering work that brings together Jews and Arabs, treats them as equals and tries to bridge their differences.

There are organisations that run bilingual Jewish-Arabic schools, including one in Jerusalem. There are joint business projects, musical ventures and even comedy shows.

In Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, the small Yaffa cafe and bookshop became the first store in the mixed Jewish and Arab city to sell Arabic books since 1948. It brought a rare, mixed clientele to its wooden tables and won an award for promoting dialogue. Next month, Joe Cocker will perform at a high-profile "coexistence festival" featuring Jewish and Arab musicians in Gilboa, in northern Israel, which will also include a children's "Bible-Koran quiz". 

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has laid it out in the starkest possible terms for his fellow Israelis. If they do not relinquish control of the occupied territories, he has warned them, Israel will ultimately cease to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.

If Israel does not extract itself from the West Bank and a Palestinian state is not established alongside the Jewish state, he said in an interview late last year, Israel will find itself trapped in an apartheid-like reality. "The day will come when the two-state solution collapses and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," he said. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished." 

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: Armed with the national flag, a Palestinian young man stands in silent confrontation with an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank following protests against the construction of the apartheid wall deemed illegal by the World Court. A reminder, perhaps, for rivals Fatah and Hamas that the Israeli occupation remains the gravest threat to the survival of the Palestinian people.

Hamas leaders arrive in Cairo to resume efforts, mediated by Egypt, aimed at addressing numerous issues currently deadlocked on top of which is the elusive Palestinian reconciliation

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials to resume truce negotiations frozen by the movement last week as well as discuss a prisoner swap deal involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit held captive since 2006.

Hamas hopes to exchange Shalit for a number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. There are over 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The Hamas delegation, which includes leaders from both the Gaza Strip and the Diaspora, will also ask the Egyptian leadership to step up efforts to bring about Palestinian national reconciliation between Fatah -- which Egypt leans towards in support -- and Hamas.

Rafah is also high on the agenda with some Hamas leaders privately criticising Egyptian reluctance to reopen the border crossing, saying that keeping it closed is causing unwarranted distress for desperate Gazans. Hamas leaders also take issue with Egypt's refusal to release Hamas members held by authorities in Egypt -- some for years. Egyptian officials acknowledge that tension has marred contacts with Hamas.