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 that much of this external advice is self serving rather than beneficial to Palestinians. Continue Reading »

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 could meet. A friend of the family living in Jordan, Tamara, was asked at the last minute to stand in for a bridesmaid. The happy couple had met a few years ago, when Patricia had gone to Gaza to visit her father who runs the Gaza branch of the Bible Society. Continue Reading »

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 alongside a safe Israel within secure borders. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

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 they can improve respect and understanding. The Sesame Workshop which co produces with tens of countries and whose children’s puppets appear in over 120 countries wanted to know what can be done to improve understanding and mutual respect between the peoples of the world. In Vienna the foreign minister invited representatives from the Mediterranean basin to discuss the role of media in improving Euro-Med dialogue. Continue Reading »

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 about the Church of the Nativity, helped keep control of what could have been an even more dangerous situation during the standoff in that West Bank city. Continue Reading »

Discussions among Palestinians, concerning democracy, transparency and reform of the way the Palestinian National Authority conducts itself, are very refreshing.

Minister of Legislative Affairs Nabil Amer, who resigned in protest over the delay in implementing such reform, is to be commended for his courage.

I have been involved for years in trying to create a vibrant, independent media in the Palestinian areas, and have, at times, suffered for my media activism. In 1997, the attempts by Al Quds Educational Television, which I established, to broadcast live Palestinian Legislative Council sessions that dealt with corruption landed me in a Palestinian jail for seven days. Continue Reading »

The reality on the ground in Palestine is hard to refute. The presence of any international civilian in the occupied areas is an instant guarantee of a considerably lower level of violence, brutality and death. Simply put, we Palestinians need to ensure that as many international civilians as possible are in our midst for our protection and for safeguarding the peace process. Add more outsiders, and the vicious cycle of violence could be broken or greatly reduced. Continue Reading »

The Palestinian president Yasser Arafat besieged by the Israelis in Ramallah since last December and imprisoned in his office since March 29 has repeatedly condemned suicide bombings that have killed innocent Israelis. It is time for the US president to condemn the latest Israeli indiscriminate violence against innocent Palestinians.

Violent attacks against innocent civilians are reprehensible. No one should be immune from criticism not even the United State’s strategic ally, Israel. Continue Reading »

I still remember the day early in March 1997 when I was handed a piece of paper issued by the Palestinian Authority allowing us at Al Quds University’s Institute of Modern Media to establish a local television station in Ramallah. With lots of energy and almost no resources we began the process of setting up Al Quds Educational Television. We wanted an independent TV station that was neither a governmental mouthpiece nor a commercial station that lives by game shows and shampoo. Continue Reading »