Today is the one-year anniversary of the first day of the Gaza siege. Many of us can clearly remember the horror: the first bits of news trickled in and protests exploded around the world out of solidarity and, possibly, guilt for not having acted sooner. Day by day, the death toll rose; I myself can [...]

When there is injustice done in the world, we usually hear only one side of the argument, the one that has the louder voice and almost always drowns out the voices of the other side. With the raging conflict between Israel and Palestine, we hear the side the world usually wants us to hear, the Israeli side – the [...]

1. Where has my language gone? The poet searches for words to wrap around these times Make them sense Make them pretty Make them useful Words from the past haunt our conversations Empire and Crusade Plans and Centuries All these words cleared understanding before Fall heavy now And weightless into this abyss of bad news I have seen the photographs Again words Prison Torture Desperate for [...]

Imagine yourself immersed in a peaceful dream, in your warm bed, your siblings somberly sleeping in the room next to you… when you’re startled awake with a gun pointed at your face and policemen dragging your kicking and screaming mother onto the cold pavement outside. They’re screaming at you to get up and do as [...]

When Palestinian children make the news, it’s often–let’s face it–because they’ve died. A combination of “no news is good news” reporting and the simple sadness of everyday life in Israel and Palestine create a bleak portrait for those of us trying to follow the everyday lives of relatives, friends, or even strangers. So what are [...]