So far.

I have reached the 2 week mark of my Middle Eastern travels. The first week was spent in Hebron, Palestine. What I didn't understand was why when I'd tell people I was in Palestine a few would say "but Palestine isn't a place". Being ignorant of basically anything outside of whether or not Beyonce is doing a kick-ass vocal run this confused me deeply. The people I was meeting called themselves Palestinian? The area they occupied was not called Israel or Lebanon or any other neighbouring countries?? Their travel documents are Palestinian and so thus are their listed national identities. So what was the problem?? What I was to learn was that while something like 140 nations recognise Palestine as a state, the magic wizarding authorities with super state-giving powers, have yet to follow suit. The reasons for this are part of a much more complicated issue relating to the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel in 1947/8. I will not bore you nor insult your intelligence with my limited knowledge or lacking journalistic skills (then again if Fox News gives it a go.....) but here are some links below. I will assume you will all go away and do your background reading and become experts on the Middle East and find a solution to the seemingly unsolvable leaving me free to get back to doing what I do best, posting slightly amusing anecdotes of my life (like the time all my stuff was destroyed in a housefire).

I will continue to refer to Palestine as Palestine in my future posts.

http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict

www.haaretz.com

From Palestine, With Love

"From where?", I hear you saying.

Yes, dear readers. I am no longer in Macau. After completing 8 months of probably the hardest job I will ever carry out - (no, I am not joking) - I knew I would be in need of a holiday. A rest. As the French would say, a "Vacation". I was tossing up between Malaysia and the Philippines. Until my sister interjected with a proposal.

"Why don't you.. come visit me in Palestine??"

"Well", I replied, "without knowing much about Palestine, what are the beaches like?"

I had, after all, dreamed myself up an intricate holiday itinerary which consisted of travelling to a tropical paradise where I would proceed to lie in a hammock from dusk till dawn playing my ukulele before getting a nightly full body rub down by a man named Julio.

Shifra assured me that I would not disappointed if I came to see her, (really she just wanted me to come for her birthday so I could give her shit). After some sturdy assurances that I would not get "blown up" I decided to book my ticket. I was eager to see my baby sister and how she has been living for the past few months, but I was also interested to experience Palestine for myself. Not having the strongest knowledge of world affairs (you're saying Sydney isn't the capital of Australia...?) but being acquainted with the Palestine-Israel conflict and also knowing that the media doesn't always get it right (nice to meet you Fox News), I thought the best way to really understand anything about the immensely complex issue would be to go there. And so go I have. ? .... (mmm grammar)

My darling sister who is actually not related to me - (I think she came from a distant galaxy called "Nerdtron" where everyone speaks 500 languages and steals their sister's belongings) - speaks 6 languages and came to volunteer in Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank. Since joining her here I have had the opportunity to meet many incredible people and hear their stories. The stories that I relate are not seeking to incite anger or offence but merely provide an insight into the lives of some of the Palestinian people I have been so fortunate to meet, and thus contribute to people's awareness of the state of affairs here in the Middle East.

With love.

xx