The key concern for Palestinians is putting an end to the occupation.  If we look at the current situation, Israel is holding lots of the cards.  It has, to use their expression, “facts on the ground” in the form of settlements—legal and “illegal,” according to Israeli criteria, but the latter are also often supported and funded by Israel in a variety of ways.  They also have a powerful army of occupation, and they are in the process of building a wall which has already limited terrorist assaults in Israel.  As well, they receive billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid.  In response to qassams and katuyshas, they have mounted more or less effective attacks on those who fire these and on the sites from which they are discharged.  However, Israel is not all-powerful. In the West Bank, they are vulnerable in the network of Israeli-only roads that criss-cross the land.  These are essential to the maintenance of the settlements.  This weakness could be addressed strategically by a program of non-violent resistance.  First, let’s look at a couple of historical examples. In the Indian struggle for independence, satyagraha (soul force) played a key role in driving the British out.  The strategy was one of civil disobedience, non-violent resistance even when attacked.  The strategy was demoralizing for the British forces on the ground and created a sympathetic British public back home.  The approach was one that was consonant with elements in the Hindu culture.  For instance, a person with a grievance against another person might fast at his doorstep as a pressure tactic.  Yet, Gandhi was especially proud of his Muslim Pathan warrior satyagrahis, who, while wearing their swords, submitted without resistance or retaliation to assaults on their person by the British. Closer to home we have the black civil rights movement.  The sit-ins and voter-registration drives, which overcame efforts by police and National Guard to prevent registration, helped to bring down the structure of segregation in the South. In the Palestinian case, what is proposed is a non-violent movement focusing on the roads. Since Palestinians are forbidden to use or even cross them, the civil disobedience could take the form of marching on the roads and/or blocking them.  While it is no secret that the apartheid roads exist, the fact is not widely known outside the Middle East, and a satyagraha campaign would publicize the fact and help to create awareness of the consequences of these roads.  This movement would have considerable impact in Israel, since most Israeli Jews also want the settlers out. Such a movement would prove attractive to international volunteers (the Rachel Corrie Brigade?) and Israeli human rights activists.  To the extent that Jewish participation occurs, Israeli aggression against the satyagrahis becomes less feasible, committed either  by Israeli forces or settlers. There are a couple major challenges for such an approach.  First, the strategy is not something with strong roots in the culture.  Second, and related to the first, it requires training in non-violent resistance.  However, while satyagraha is not within the native experience and culture, its use in India and the United States is widely known and constitutes part of the international culture.  With good leadership, especially by clergy, it should be able to become an important element in the struggle for liberation. Back in the earlier days of the struggle for equality in the United States, it used to be said among blacks that they had the State Department (the Urban League) and the War Department (the NAACP).  Well, the satyagrahi can be the War Department, giving “facts on the ground” to assist the Palestinian Authority (the State Department) in its dealings with Israel and the rest of the world.