In some places the curfew has been total and lasted for days; in others there have been only a few hours of freedom either every three days or every day. While the Israeli military this week began leaving parts of Gaza and Bethlehem, conditions have not changed for the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank. They continue to suffer from the effects of the curfews.

The curfews also have turned upside down the lives of all Palestinians. In the uncommon cases in which there are jobs to go to, Palestinians are prevented from going to work. Palestinian mothers do not know when there will be a next opportunity to purchase food for their children. Palestinian children do not know when there will be a next opportunity to see their friends or, for that matter, the sky. Students cannot get to class; schools and universities have shut down. Those suffering ill health have a difficult time getting medical care. People have died because they can't get to the hospital.

Stuffed together in hot apartments and houses in which electricity and potable water are only intermittently available, many Palestinians can hope for little more than a chance to get the bare necessities for survival. For a people who have been living under occupation for 35 years, the curfews are not only depriving more and more Palestinians of work, school, food and health: they have robbed them of hope.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claims the curfews will bring an end to the suicide bombings that are taking and threatening Jewish lives in Israel. In fact, we have seen an increase in violence, on both sides. The curfews have failed. By imposing them, Sharon only increased distrust, anger and hopelessness throughout the region.

Group punishment

I have family in Israel who are threatened daily by the specter of another suicide attack. I can hardly imagine the disruption and fear that this brings to their lives. However, to answer this disruption and fear with more disruption and fear is not an answer. No behavior by a few Palestinians is outrageous enough to justify the systematic, ongoing confinement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, most of whom have nothing to do with the suicide bombings.

I agree with many others that Arafat is a corrupt leader and an untrustworthy peace partner. At the same time, I believe that Sharon is an equally untrustworthy peace partner. His response to every suicide bombing is to punish ever harder the Palestinian people as a whole. But the suicide bombings do not stop. In fact, it seems that Sharon's policies have both accelerated the pace and increased the severity of suicide attacks.

Furthermore, the Sharon government has not agreed to negotiations. This is entirely counterproductive, as it cedes control of the situation to the most radical elements, namely the ultra-religious Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza and the Islamic fundamentalist groups such as Hamas. Sharon's demand that the suicide bombings cease before negotiations can begin puts control of the agenda squarely in the hands of Hamas.

Sharon is simply not a credible leader right now, as he squanders and avoids every opportunity for movement toward peace that appears (the recent bombings on the very day of a possible cease-fire in Gaza are one example).

I believe that the suicide bombings are horrifying and inexcusable. They must stop. But, as an American and a Jew, I cannot control what Palestinians decide to do. On the other hand, as an American and a Jew, I do have a say in what this country and Israel decide to do. Israel depends on the United States for financial and political support. We must demand that Israel lift its curfews, treat Palestinians fairly and open a path to negotiations that returns hope to both sides.

We as Americans can do something about this. It's time to send a message that we think Sharon's policies lead us only to more violence and repression. Let's get on the phone to our representatives today.