BICOM

A conference under the banner of ‘Gaza-Sderot’ took place this week, in the western Negev town which has been the main target of Kassam rockets since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. The conference included the participation of a number of Palestinian residents of Gaza, who stayed the night in Sderot. The conference was arranged to allow Sderot and Gaza residents to meet and learn about one anothers’ lives and perspectives. Many of the Palestinian participants refused to be named, for fear of reprisals against themselves and their families in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where contacts with Israelis are forbidden. Gaza participants spoke of the difficult conditions in the Strip, and the difficulties of organising protests, because of the repressive nature of the Hamas regime. One participant noted that an attempt to organise a Hamas protest last week, inspired by the events in Egypt, was blocked at the last minute by the authorities, who had infiltrated the organising group.