1. No one in the U.S. military may understand the changes better than troops who were part of the initial occupation and have returned for a second tour –– and are being trained to be less quick on the trigger and more ready to give Iraqis the benefit of the doubt.

2. The finger is still quick on the trigger not only when Arab citizens are in the crosshairs but also when it comes to Jewish and foreign activists against the occupation (as in the case of attorney Limor Goldstein, who was fatally wounded by Border Police fire in a non–violent demonstration against the separation fence at Bil‘in on August 11.) The policy of discrimination and delegitimization of more than one million citizens is only intensifying, and the prevailing government assumption remains that Arab citizens must be treated as a security or a demographic problem, while ignoring their problems in the areas of housing, education and employment.