Friday, March 11, 2005, Jerusalem — Peter and I head out and descend the stairs into Damascus Gate. We climb our way through the Labyrinthine Old City and wind up at Jaffa Gate at the Green Line, the border between Jordanian and Israeli controlled Jerusalem prior to 1967. We hail a taxi and head for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in West Jerusalem. We pass the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and then Hebrew University. To understand the sentiments of “Never Again!” and gain insights on the modern Jewish state’s obsession with security, it is essential to visit this place. Read more about WaSPR Delegation Diary 10: Two Traumatized Peoples: Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial 

The charming fragrance of lemon filled the area when my wife and I were on the roof enjoying the warm breeze last night in Jabalia Refugee Camp, north of Gaza. My wife, Suha, was happy with the scene of the moon in the middle of the partially cloudy sky and the aura of sanctity. Suha’s eyes were glittering and her beautiful smile was shining in the middle of darkness. We were chatting and exchanging jokes. The innocent laughs of my wife added a special taste to the romantic moment. Suddenly, the explosions literally rocked the ground of my apartment building. The Israeli artillery shot tens of rockets on “unoccupied areas!” Read more about Romantic moments under artillery 

“But I don’t know what my parent’s village looks like,” said Hammad, a young, energetic Palestinian boy who lives in Al Fawwar Refugee camp located near Hebron. I came to the camp at the invitation of a friend from The British Council to do a workshop on playwriting. Hammad along with 17 other young boys gathered at the cultural center to participate. I told the children about my own exposure to theatre and the power of it. Especially, protest theatre. Growing up in Apartheid South Africa, I could never go to the White areas to see productions. However, a man who performed all over the Cape Province, in various townships and squatter camps happened to be in our township. Read more about Whats mine is mind 

I’ve always loved Fridays in Gaza. In the mornings, save for the lone garbage collector futilely sweeping the abandoned streets and Municipality park, littered with plastic cups, watermelon seeds, and strangled straws from the night before, the hustle and bustle of the city comes to a standstill. It is a serene if lethargic time, an escape from the sea of chaos, uncertainty and violence that grips our lives each waking day and night. For a few hours, things seem ordinary in a place where ordinary is an illusion. Read more about Just another Gaza Friday 

March 30 marked the 30th commemoration of Land Day throughout Palestine, in the Palestinian Diaspora, and internationally. This year’s central demonstration was held in Lid, near the Palestinian coast, occupied in 1948 when the majority of the people of Lid were expelled by the Zionist forces, thus made into refugees, awaiting return. Today, Palestinians in Lid face continued and escalating Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing. Read more about Land Day 2006: "From Lid to Halhoul, from Ramle to Jenin" 

On 18 March 2006, Leigh Brady visited a grieving family in Al Yamun, a town in the northern West Bank. Their 7-year old daughter had been murdered the night previously by Israeli Border Police, who had entered the town to arrest “wanted” Palestinian militants in a raid led by Israeli Defence Forces. Her name was Akaber Adbelrahman Zaid and she was on her way to a doctor’s clinic to have stitches removed from her chin. Instead she received a barrage of bullets to the head, when an undercover Border Police unit opened fire on the car in which she was travelling with her uncle. Read more about "Don't worry - it's just another Palestinian child's death" 

There are now an estimated 2.5 million Palestinian residents in the West Bank and 1.3 million residents in Gaza. This fact obstructs the vision of a “Greater Israel” (Eretz Israel). But that has not stopped official government policies which have encouraged creeping annexation. Ghassan Andoni continued, “Both Labor and Likud have supported the settlements. There has been a squeezing of Palestinian society in both Israel and the OT’s which has gradually intensified during the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and now the 2000’s.” Read more about WaSPR Delegation Diary 9: Two Traumatized Peoples Trapped by Violence and Fear 

The term “Israeli Arab” deserves some elaboration. These people are really Palestinian Arabs, and their descendants, who never left after Al-Nakba in 1948. They have relatives in the West Bank and Gaza, and also in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and throughout the Palestinian Diaspora. Israeli Arabs are citizens of Israel, and can vote in Israeli elections. They comprise about 20% of the current population of Israel. Although they generally have a better standard of living than their extended families in the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Diaspora, they are still second class citizens, living as non-Jews in a Jewish State. Read more about WaSPR Delegation Diary 7: Visiting Those Who Want Peace: Arab and Jewish Dialogue 

One day before Valentine’s Day, ‘Annan’s father went to his 13-year-old son’s school in Beitunia, Ramallah, and only found his oldest boy’s jacket and backpack on the school grounds. Along with four other boys ranging from the ages of 11 to 14, ‘Annan had been arrested by Israeli soldiers who gave him a beating that was evidenced in the bruises seen by his parents when they were finally able to see him only briefly during ‘Annan’s 15-minute court hearing two days later. He told them that the soldiers beat him with their fists and feet, as well as the butts of their guns. Read more about 'Annan's Story: Freedom stolen at thirteen