“There will be no breakthrough in the peace process if there is no American commitment to support a solution to the Palestinian issue.” […]
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Remember to Pray for Gaza
Because no bombs are falling, most of us assume that there is some kind of peace in Gaza; that is, if we think of Gaza at all. Not so. On July 21 the Jewish Voice for Peace reported how a silent war continues on this densely populated and isolated little strip of land that […]
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Remember Yemen
If you are a praying person: Remember Yemen. Recent reports from several news sources tell us that in Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arab world, one of the poorest in the world, seven million civilians are threatened by a developing famine. In addition there is a cholera epidemic that has already infected 300,000 people, […]
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A U.S. Department of Peace Is Needed Now in Mosul
ISIS, driven out of Mosul, leaves behind a city in ruins and a society shattered by distrust This is the headline story in news. July 10, 2017. “City in ruins. Society shattered.” This is the way war ends: homes, houses of worship, places of business, schools, hospitals, all reduced to rubble, piles of stones. […]
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A Personal Letter
This is a very personal letter to those of you who followed my blog last year. Some of you will remember receiving an email (which I did not post) telling you that I was taking a break for an indefinite period of time because of the serious illness of my husband. Subsequently, the suspicion […]
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The Giant Dwarf Tree of Lebanon, Our Amazing Ramona Sfeir
This Middle East story is one I have wanted to bring to my readers for a long time. Ramona Sfeir is a person precious to me. I have one of her art objects, bought in the 1980s at an exhibit mentioned in this story, and it is one of my most valued possessions, because it […]
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Three Reasons Why We Need a Department of Peace Right Now
Three Reasons. . . Four Thousand Middle Eastern Women Recently a group of 20 Israeli women set off from northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, planning to walk to Jerusalem. All along the way they were joined by other women and two weeks later, 3,000 strong, they reached the Palestinian city of Jericho where they […]
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The Only Friend I Have in Mosul, A Middle Eastern Story
A long time ago we knew a young Iraqi whom I remembered today while reading the news. His name was Asal. Actually, I can’t figure out how to write this in English; that first letter does not exist in our language and to an American sounds like a vowel, a bit harsh, made down in […]
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An Urgent Message About Syria, From Those Who Know Aleppo
The truth about what is happening in Syria is complicated, full of contradictions and hard to know. The truth about what we should do or not do concerning Syria is simple, after we shed our biases. Almost everybody I know, here and in the Middle East, has an opinion, often irrelevant. I too, because […]
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In Beirut or Altadena, a Lebanese Man on a Mission
This story is contributed by Alastair Greeves, former auditor for World Vision International. The friend he speaks of here is a significant character in my memoir, In Borrowed Houses. FF “Are you Terry Waite?” the Lebanese immigration official asked me as I handed him my passport 25 years ago. “Are you returning to our country?” […]
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