This Week In Palestinian Blogs: Behind The Walls

From barber shops and strawberry fields to politics and the lives of students behind walls, the Palestinian blogosphere this week has many stories to tell.

Laila El-Haddad, far from the familiarity of her home in Gaza, describes her latest journeys in the suburbs of Maryland as she and her son Yousuf reunite with family. While quick to note the stark contrast between the two places on either side of the world, Laila also sees the social divides in America itself. In the meantime Yousuf seems to be having his own journeys in the midst of strawberry fields of a local farm.


“Yousuf hopes no one is watching as he stuffs his face with fresh-picked
strawberries at a local farm.” (Photo Credit: Laila El-Haddad)

Fadi over at Kabbobfest reports a story about Palestinian barbers in Hebron, who in a symbolic gesture, offered free haircuts to local government employees who have not been paid for two months.

With the recent announcement by President Mahmoud Abbas to hold a referendum, Doud Kuttab believes this latest move has brought a resurgence of support for the President, and takes a look at the reasons why. Meanwhile at Blog For Palestine, there’s some concern over recent tensions between Palestinian factions, which have raised some important questions.

Naseem Tarawnah at the Black Iris of Jordan posts an article describing the bulldozing of homes in Rafah by the Israeli military, just ahead of the June 14th National Day of Action protesting the lack of corporate responsibility by Caterpillar Inc. Speaking of social protest Dr. Marcy Newman is frustrated over the lack of discussion by intellectuals regarding an international boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, while UmKhalil wonders just “Where do universal human rights begin?”

Meanwhile Lulu breaks down Israel's game strategies, describing them as an “all-too-real version of Age of Empires”.

Katie Miranda of Postcards From Palestine came down with a bad case of stomach flu and ended up at a Palestinian hospital. Though along the way she discovered what it was like to bypass the checkpoints and roadblocks that make leaving Tel Rumeida a near impossibility for Palestinians with medical emergencies; even if they have a heart attack.

Lastly, Iman shares her recent discovery of “Behind the Wall”, an interesting website that acts as a monthly publication which peruses a dialogue between Palestinian and American students. This month the cultural exchange between students of The Friends School in Ramallah and students at Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, came in the form of questions covering topics which ranged from politics and religion to sports and dating.

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