state politics

I awoke today, with the sounds of the call to prayer in the background.

And then the news of Francois Hollande's victory in France. A socialist-minded politician who says he wants to return to the "earnest postwar years of government-mandated employment and central-planned projects. Those seem to be increasingly rare today, in these times of debt crises and paranoia of state-supported services.

This conversation seems like it is from a different world than the one I woke up in.

What would it be like for politicians here to say these words? Today I am going to meet with staff at OneVoice, which is an international Palestinian-Israeli youth organization dedicated to lobbying politicians on both sides to begin negotiations and push for a two-state solution.
I am interested to see their views on how much state activity will be permitted here?

So far, I've seen the Israeli state flex its muscles in serious ways. I am excited and intrigued to see what Palestinian authorities are doing...