Dear Friends

With rockets falling on Israel's south daily, a debate is raging whether to cut off power supply to Gaza for a short period after every rocket. A message to the Palestinian population that their fate is inter-dependent with that of Israel. If they continue to behave as enemies, they will be treated as enemies . Ironically, as the questions of morality, Israeli and international law, and effectiveness of the measure occupy more and more of the Israeli political scene and media, Sderot suffered a two hour black-out on Sunday, when a Gazan missile hit a high voltage power line in the city.

What is really going on in Gaza? Does the local population really support the incessant rocket attacks and violence against Israel? Would they prefer peace with their neighbours, as the Ramallah based Fatah government claims in the West Bank? The Hamas' election victory was brought about by a convergence of forces, and their bloody take-over had mixed local support. An unusual insight into the situation and views of the local Gaza population is provided by an interview with Gaza journalist Taghreed El-Khodary. In a short piece, she covers a wide range of topics; corruption, internal violence, coercion, Islamisation and the violence against Israel and the inevitable Israeli attempts to stop it. The whole piece is worth reading - but the telling line is no surprise to those of us that have been following the events in Gaza over the last decade:

Shockingly, a significant number of people have told me, 'we want to go back to have Israel in direct control, like it was under occupation, before Oslo.'
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