Numerology

NEARLY THREE DECADES AGO, a new Israeli protest group was launched, calling itself “The 21st Year” and declaring in its founding covenant that:The 40th year of the independence of Israel is the 21st year of its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For more than half of its years of statehood, Israel has been an occupying power . . . The Occupation is not only a deplorable situation affecting the lives of the Palestinians it has an equally pernicious effect on the very political and spiritual substance of Israeli society.I joined the 21st Year while I lived in Israel and I remember the urgency we felt to act after two decades of occupation.