In 2003 we saw the invasion of Iraq, the worsening of conditions in Palestine and Washington's increasingly arbitrary use of power. I cannot help but think 2004 will be better. Which is not to say 2004 will be a happy year -- the crises that emerged last year have, after all, yet to reach their conclusions whether on a regional or international plane. Maybe the new year will be less painful than the one that has come to an end. The initial shock of those crises is over by now. But the repercussions will go on for a while yet, manifesting themselves in different ways every day.
Realistically, we cannot hope for a resolution to problems that started in 2003. It is unlikely that the Palestinian question, for example, will be resolved, or that US forces will be withdrawn from Iraq. Nor will our own economic and political problems vanish in a matter of months. What we hope for during 2004, rather, is that our feet should stand at the beginning of the long road that will in the end lead to a resolution -- the first steps towards an answer to the Palestinian question, for example, instead of ongoing and seemingly endless bloodshed.
In 2003 we saw the invasion of Iraq, the worsening of conditions in Palestine and Washington's increasingly arbitrary use of power. I cannot help but think 2004 will be better. Which is not to say 2004 will be a happy year -- the crises that emerged last year have, after all, yet to reach their conclusions whether on a regional or international plane. Maybe the new year will be less painful than the one that has come to an end. The initial shock of those crises is over by now. But the repercussions will go on for a while yet, manifesting themselves in different ways every day.
