Articles from the author

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.

Nothing is causing a perpetuation of the current Palestinian – Israeli violence more than the existence and growth of illegal Jewish colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Danny Qumsieh has been working hard this Christmas season to raise money so that Bethlehem's only local radio station can continue in its tradition of covering the holiday events.

"Eat drink and destroy." This was the Hebrew graffiti left on the bulletin board of our media institute in Ramallah which had been occupied by Israeli soldiers between April 2-21.

The reality on the ground in Palestine is hard to refute. The presence of any international civilian in any location in the occupied areas is an instant guarantee of a considerably lower level of violence, brutality and death.

I have spent the past two weeks in a private visit to the U.S. During this visit I tried to observe what the average Americans notices regarding the Middle East and have come up with the conclusion that very little attention is paid to the region.

The Israeli prime minister is angry. He has called for an urgent press conference to complain about the latest action by the multinational observer force in Palestine and Israel.

A peasant woman knocked gently on my car window Tuesday as I waited in a long line at the Bethlehem checkpoint. "Could you help me," she asked kindly. "I need to get these bags to the farmers market outside Damascus Gate and the soldiers are not letting me pass."

The 90 minutes I spent in the Jordan National Bank in Bethlehem said it all.

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.

It was no coincidence that the latest spat of attacks against Israelis occurred as U.S. President George W. 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.

One of the more popular Palestinian songs asks travellers where they are going, and the answer is always Ramallah.