“He was just shouting at soldiers but then one soldier decided to attack him, so they beat the hell out of him - riffle butt to the head”. - Israeli soldier, identified only as “A.”, on the beating of a mentally-handicapped Palestinian man by Israeli forces. “We were sent to look for firearms, but didn’t […]

An Arab man sat near the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters [NYT]
Waiting.
If this picture doesn’t personify the Palestinian experience, I don’t know what does.

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What words coming to life look like…

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When it comes to the political landscape of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the only thing more insignificant than an American election is an Israeli election. The outcome of these campaigns, which seem to bathe in the limelight of the world stage, tend to have worse consequences for the Middle East almost every time. Both Netanyahu and […]

Sixty percent of Americans in the nationwide survey said they were sympathetic toward the Israelis, compared with 17 percent who supported the Palestinians, CNN reported today on its Web site. A recent European poll showed that 23 percent of French people said the Palestinian Hamas group was primarily responsible for the war while 18 percent […]

Photo Credit: NYT
I hate sounding cynical. But I’m trying to be realistic here. This is not to say I hate the guy. I don’t even know him. And to be fair, it’s still his first day on the job. But seriously. Looking at how people are reacting to this. Especially the more westernized Jordanians here. […]

How do you define a protest? In the past three weeks I think the word itself has found new manifestations in Jordan. Each one catered to an audience and each one catered to a need. Some chose to go out in to the streets and shout, some chose to light a candle at a vigil, […]

While watching the events in Gaza unfold these past few weeks, I am overcome with grief, and it has become even more dominant once the ceasefire was declared. In the next few days and weeks, Israeli elections will roll on while Gazans will spend this time digging the bodies of relatives out of the rubble. […]