Blog archive by year
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Or see 2011 blog entries below
January 16, 2011 Final Thoughts
Dread and loathing at the airport Last night I purged my belongings of almost all evidence that I had been on the West Bank or that I had…
January 15, 2011 My last quiet day
I thought my last day in Ramallah would be a reflective, low key day to catch up, finish blogging, look at my 700+ emails, and pack, when my host…
January 14, 2011 An NGO is not a health care system
For the second week of the delegation, we divide into different interest groups and the medical folks are based in Nablus, working with Palestinian…
January 10, 2011 Qalqilyia: On a clear day I can see Tel Aviv
Qalqilyia, a bulge of land protruding westward against the Green Line, was the first city in 2002 to be fully enclosed by the separation wall, with…
January 09, 2011 East Jerusalem
What is this, delusional? We were in the midst of a political tour of East Jerusalem with journalist and activist Abu Hassan, trying to comprehend…
January 08, 2011 Pieces of the puzzle
This is a cozy scene. Three members of the delegation are bent over a Ravensburger Puzzle, Crystals of Enchantment, sorting through the thousand…
January 07, 2011 Tear gassed in the Holy Land
If you are going to be tear gassed, I strongly suggest you rub Vicks Vapor Rub in your nostrils, bring an onion to smell, or alcohol swabs although…
January 07, 2011 Breaking the siege of Gaza with SKYPE
A torrential rain sweeps through Nablus, the city of hills, and the street is briefly turned into a rushing river as we come to meet Dr. Allam…
January 06, 2011 Who profits from the occupation?
As we learn more about the BDS movement, a critical question emerges: what companies are involved with which activities that ultimately sustain the…
January 06, 2011 The skeletons in the closet
I have been reading about the Israeli governmental criticism and talk of censorship of left wing academics in Israel and I am eager to meet a…
January 06, 2011 How I became a human smuggler
I have to confess, we were not prepared. We were not even aware of the white-faced American mostly Jewish privileged skin in which we were living.…
January 06, 2011 The nuances of BDS, How can Israelis boycott themselves?
Because most Israelis are opposed to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction movement, I am very interested in hearing from Kobi Snitz, a thin, intense man…
January 06, 2011 Balata Refugee Camp, Existence is Resistance
The Yaffa Guest House in the Balata Refugee Camp just outside of Nablus is new. There are quarters for men and for women, a well equipped kitchen…
January 05, 2011 Settlement products: Boycott PA style
Many US activists are becoming increasingly involved in the boycott, divestment, and sanction movement as a nonviolent tactic to change Israeli…
January 04, 2011 The very arbitrary, extreme banality of power
We return from Ramallah to East Jerusalem to join the health and human rights delegation and once again I am taken aback by the daily outrages that…
January 04, 2011 I am here to save the Jews from Israel
Saed Abu Hijeh, an intense Palestinian human geographer, poet, and radio host, greets us in his garden in Nablus, explaining that this is where is…
January 03, 2011 Ramallah Fragments
The dangerous qanun and the intoxication of power We leave the taxi at Qalandia checkpoint and for 50 shekels grab a ride in the back of a truck…
December 29 to 31, 2010
Two agnostic Jews, a recovering Catholic, and a Druze walk into a monastery…. I am always jolted by the contradictions of Ben Gurion airport, a…