Palestinians are in a dilemma. We are not sure whom to trust, whom not to trust, what to do or not to do to end the human tragedy in which we find ourselves. 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 »

The ninety minutes I spent in the Jordan National Bank in Bethlehem said it all. I had gone to Bethlehem when I learned that curfew was to be temporarily lifted. People were loitering outside the branch shortly 9 am but the staff, which arrived at the same time, needed time to prepare before allowing the customers to come in. Lines were much longer, I was told when the Israeli incursions and curfews began, most people had withdrawn whatever money they thought they would need. Now customers had little money left and those waiting in line were using the bank for check cashing transactions and paying bills and taxes. Continue Reading »

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 »