A couple of days ago the serveece (that is how it is pronounced, and it bothers me to write it 'service' and think of having it mispronounced!) I was riding in stopped at a light, which gave me the opportunity to watch a little guy, certainly no more than seven or eight years old selling something to the driver in the car ahead of us. I could not tell what he was selling because when the light changes, drivers start honking and there cannot be any hesitation in lurching forward...

But I did get a glimpse of the little guy tucking the bundle of whatever it was under his arm and moving on.

Two days later I was sitting at a sidewalk cafe outside the ICAHD office, observing. The cafe across the street was enclosed by a glass partition, and a guard stood outside its door, checking people's bags as they went in.

Suddenly, a young man in his early twenties approached me and asked for money for food. He did not look emaciated by any means, and I could not help wondering why he was reduced to begging in the street. The contrast between the little boy and the young man was hard to miss. The little one should have been in school. The other one should have been at work.

The fact is that this occupation is draining the resources of both Israelis and Palestinians, robbing them of their self-esteem as well as their livelihood. A couple of days ago the paper said that the budget for "defense" in Israel will be increased for next year. It is expensive to run an occupation, of course. All those checkpoints to man; all those bypass roads to build; all those settlements to guard. The plan cannot be a comforting thought for those who are unemployed and wondering how to feed their families. Poverty is growing on both sides, and so is violence, aggressiveness, domestic abuse.

If the occupation does not come to an end, I see a really dark and darkening future ahead.