Danger of Lawlessness in Palestine
My 14-year old son, Bishara, and his cousin ran into trouble this week. They were loitering in Bethlehem’s Manger Square during the few hours of the lifting of the curfew when they were confronted by much older teens who wanted to shake them down for money. The incident ended peacefully, but the fact that it […]
The real obstacle is the settlements
Nothing is causing a perpetuation of the current Palestinian -Israeli violence more than the existence and growth of illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. In June 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza strip (as well as the Golan and Sinai) saying at that time that they would relinquish these areas in return […]
Damned if we do, damned if we don’t
Palestinians are in a dilemma. We are not sure whom to trust, whom not to trust, what to do or not to do to end the human tragedy in which we find ourselves. To be sure, there are many who pretend to know what is best for us and for our future, but history shows […]
Palestine Under Curfew
The ninety minutes I spent in the Jordan National Bank in Bethlehem said it all. I had gone to Bethlehem when I learned that curfew was to be temporarily lifted. People were loitering outside the branch shortly 9 am but the staff, which arrived at the same time, needed time to prepare before allowing the […]
Palestinians are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t
Palestinians are in a dilemma. They are not sure what to do or not do, who to trust and what they have to do to end the human tragedy that they find themselves. To be sure there are many who pretend to know what is best for us and for our future, but history shows […]
Restrictions lead to a strange marriage in Jordan
It was an unusual wedding by all counts. The bride was Patricia Ghabar a Palestinian from Bethlehem. The groom, Wael Hashweh from Gaza. The officiating pastor Reverend Hanna Masaed also from Gaza. The wedding, however, had to take place in Amman, Jordan. That was the only place the wedding participants, closest family member and priest […]
Bush and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
It was no coincidence that the latest spat of attacks against Israelis occurred as US President George Bush was about to make his policy statement regarding the Middle East. Among other things, the statement was expected to include a road map to solving this century old conflict on the basis of a free independent Palestine […]
Apathy towards reoccupations
I should have been angry but I wasn’t. Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint slashed all four wheels of my car. Apparently they didn’t like where I and many other Palestinians had parked our cars as we dismounted and traveled by foot to cross the dreaded occupation checkpoint.
Is the West interested in Understanding the East
During the past weeks I attended two conferences in New York and Vienna, which were aimed at finding ways of using the media to improve dialogue and understanding. In New York, the longest running children’s television production company rounded up some of the world’s best creative people and media producers in order to see how […]
Foreign Presence Needed in Palestine Now
It is hard to know whether the international presence created by foreign citizens at Yasser Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters helped prevent further violence there during the recent Israeli siege of the site. But there can be no doubt that the multinational presence in Bethlehem of foreign priests, along with the fact that the international community cares […]