Amira Hass

Every evening at six, Tul Karm is placed under curfew, but fewer tanks, armored cars and bulldozers are visible now.

The far-reaching significance of Israel's siege policy and the institutionalization of the pass system for travel through the West Bank is in direct contradiction to the minimal - if any - interest shown in Israel about the phenomenon.

Leaning on a cane, the man stood on a huge pile of ruins: a jumble of crushed concrete, twisted iron rods, shreds of mattresses, electric cables, fragments of ceramic tiles, bits of water pipes and an orphaned light switch.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is a super-ruler, in the eyes of the Israelis. He has been imprisoned in his office for over two weeks. All the buildings of his government, including prisons and security apparatus, are destroyed, vandalized, empty of people.