I made my way to the Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Here are a few pics of the crossing...

The strip is under near total lock down by the Israeli military which launched an "incursion" into Gaza on Tuesday evening. Several Palestinian fighters were killed when tanks and bulldozers went some two miles into the territory held by Hamas.

As someone pointed out, the Israeli military is the only military in the world that regularly brings bulldozers into combat because they want to fully destroy houses as part of the process. The agenda being to force Palestinians out of the area so Israelis can eventually move in.

The Israelis and Palestinian Authority (which does NOT have the support of many Palestinians by the way) began their so-called peace talks today despite the fact that Israel attacked Gaza on Tuesday.

Truthfully, when it comes to the Palestinian Authority and it's President Abu Mazin (better known in the west as Mahmood Abbas), the word I often heard was "collaborators."

Regarding Gaza, the strip is in lock down and has been for quite some time. This really intensified after Hamas and Fateh (The group that controls the Palestinian Authority) fought for control of the strip and Hamas won.

Hamas had already won an election to represent that Palestinian people, but because of their militant stance, the results of the election were not acceptable to the Israelis or the US. Thus, the fight that led to Hamas controlling Gaza and for now Fateh, controlling the West Bank.

I talked to a few people at the Erez Crossing, though many refused to talk with me. One man was returning to Gaza after being allowed to go to Israel for cataract surgery. He said he had waited for three months to get permission and was now going back.

A woman, her children and her disabled husband were also trying to get back into Gaza to attend an event there. She went to the checkpoint and was turned away, though it seemed that the decision was not final by the time I left.

I met with a pair of women from Gaza at a coffee shop not far from the Erez crossing after they came from the strip into Israel. They worked for a humanitarian aid agency and that was why they were able to get in and out Gaza.

They said the situation was bad inside, that only some 13 essential food staples were being allowed in and that they had only recently, after several months, been able to get some psychiatric medications for people who needed them. Among other things, one of the women planned to buy some winter clothes for some of the strip's children since there is a shortage of those as well.

The consensus seemed to be that things were going to get a lot worse in Gaza and the political analysis of the situation is that both the Israelis and the "PA" want Hamas out of the way so the siege of Gaza will last until Hamas gives up.

One of the most popular Palestinian leaders, Marguan Bargouti, who is called the Palestinian Nelson Mandela, has called on Hamas to surrender control of Gaza to the "PA." Barqouti is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison.

In closing this final blog as I get ready to head to the airport in Tel Aviv, I'm thinking about what I've learned here and mostly what that comes down to is that the situation is much more complex that is usually reported.

People like simple and easy answers, good and bad, right and wrong. This includes many of the people and media sources that we agree with most of the time.

Hopefully, upon my return, there will be a chance to talk more about all of this and hopefully there'll be a chance to come back and see what has changed and what hasn't.

The one thing I know for sure, is that this conflict is far from over and it will continue to effect this region and the world as a whole for a long, long time.

From East Jerusalem at 2:00 AM
I'm Mike Thornton

We spent the day in the port city of Jaffa and in Tel Aviv with a representative of "Zochorot" an organization that works to inform and educate Israeli's about the plight of the Palestinians and what "really" happened when it comes to the process of the establishment of the State of Israel.

Esther tells us that in the Israeli school system as well as the army there is a conscious and deliberate effort to conceal the fact that the Palestinians were run off their land, that massacres took place and that millions of people and their decedents were turned into "refugees" and that they remain so today.

"Nakba" is Arabic for "Catastrophe." Ester told us about how the first Zionists came to Tel Aviv and began working to establish a Jewish homeland in the late 1880's and early 1900's. Eventually that effort turned into a campaign of murder and terrorism designed to rid the land of Palestinians so that the dream of an ethnically cleansed Israel would one day be a reality.

I should add here that after Tuesday's Israeli attack against Gaza and Hamas on the eve of so-called "Peace" talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazin, I have little belief that Israeli leadership actually wants a peaceful solution to this ongoing conflict.

It seems like they intend to run every Palestinian out of the area and expropriate all the land that they can. Oh, and if a few Arabs remain, that will likely be OK as long as they clearly except their status as second class citizens. But as I sit and watch the Israeli tanks on Al Jazeera with a few Palestinian men I can't help but think that the situation is likely to get lot worse before it gets any better.

It's important to remember that our government is fully supporting the Israelis in this ongoing war of aggression and believe me everyone in the Arab world is fully aware of that!

Of course on the other side of that, is the work of people like Ester and organizations like "Zochorot" working to achieve some kind of a just solution through education and creative action.

She says that Israelis are thought of as "A people without land that came to a land without people" and the struggle is to show that indeed, there were people here and that much of what has been done and continues to be done to them is a crime.

Jaffa, which is for all intents and purposes now a suburb of Tel Aviv, has become a tourist town on the beach and it feel and looks like one.

The Arab history of the city has been neglected by the Israeli government and much of the town was allowed to deteriorate, interestingly while the "White City" of Tel Aviv has become a United Nations world heritage site.

The history of the military efforts made by the Zionists to create the State of Israel are too much for me to go into here and they are much better documented in other places anyway.

But as Ester tells us, the battle for Jaffa was largely waged as a terror campaign.

That terror campaign was waged by a Zionist paramilitary group known as the "Irgun" (Hebrew shorthand for Ha'Irgun Ha'Tsvai Ha'Leumi B'Eretz Yisrael, "National Military Organization in the Land of Israel" --Wikipedia) The "Irgun." bombed Arab houses in Jaffa block by block in an effort designed (in conjunction with other terrorist activities) to force the Palestinians to flee, leaving the land for the Zionists.

We hear much about the deplorable nature of "terrorism" today and the Israelis base much of what they do on the so-called terrorist acts of others.

In Jaffa, however, there is a museum erected at a beautiful site overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

The subject of the museum is terrorism.

It's purpose to honor the Irgun.

In Jaffa
for KVMR-FM
I'm Mike Thornton

As I've said before Israel/Palestine is a land of suppression walls and separation fences.

We traveled to Jayyus today to hear how the erection of the security fence has changed the very fabric of life in the village and how the Israeli government is constructing the barriers in order to expropriate not only land but even more importantly water.

Jayyus, a once self sufficient farming village, now faces 80% unemployment since much of the farm land that surrounds the village has been taken and that which the villagers can still farm is on the other side of the security "fence" and they must go through a checkpoint that is usually open three times a day.

A few images around Jayyus.

According to the city official that land (now behind the fence) also sits atop one of the large water aquifers in the country and also clearly on the Palestinan side of the 1967 border also know as the "Green" Line

We were able to go down to the gate that allows farmers to get from the town to their land

Unexpectedly the Israeli soldiers guarding the gate invited us to come over and we had a long conversation with them about their military service, how they felt about their jobs and what they thought about the ongoing conflict.

The soldiers told us that they were all in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reserves and they serve 30 days per year, though they are not always required to every each and every year.

Here's a few of the soldiers at the Jayyus checkpoint and some members of our Global Exchange group on the road inside the security area.

While we were there an old man on a donkey came to the checkpoint and through a local official who was guiding us asked for permission to use another gate, saying it was a much shorter trip for him.

The IDF officer told him that he was sorry, but he didn't make the rules nor was he able to give out the necessary pass.

Here's a little of what the scene looked like.

He was clearly a bit forlorn about it all as the old man complained that every time he came through the gate, he had to deal with a different set of soldiers and go through the same hassles again and again. The officer told him that he could ask the commanding officer for the necessary paperwork, but there was nothing that he could do for the man.

I asked him if he ever got tired of having to do this and he said that he did, but it was his job and he had to do it.

We talked for awhile and he told me that he normally worked as an accountant and had served his three years in the IDF a few years ago.

Though he told me that he had been called up last year and fought in the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He told me that the separation fence was necessary in his opinion and that it was working to reduce terrorist acts in Israel.

He says that five years ago he would never ride on a bus in Tel Aviv because of the suicide bombers and that now he felt like he could do so safely.

I said that the Palestinians are angry and they feel like their land is being stolen from them.

Once again I saw the forlorn look and the shrug that went with it this.

He told me that most people only see or hear about the "Arabs" when and IDF soldier kills a 12 year old boy or a suicide bomber blow himself up, but that he sees them everyday and feels sorry for them because he know they're poor.

He goes on to say that if he had a friend and he found out that person was making a bomb to go and kill people he would call the police to stop him from doing so. He says that the Palestinians don't do that, and so all of this is necessary to keep the people of Israel safe.

The soldiers echoed something that we've heard many times and that is that it's the "politicians" that keep this war going.

I asked the officer if he thought it was ever going to end

"I hope so.." he said.

From Jayyus we made our way to Qalqilia, a prison city inside a prison state inside a prison planet.

Qalqilia is completely surrounded by the security fence and the soldiers were much less friendly when we arrived, telling us that it was against the law for us to enter the city; a of 50,000 Palestinians existing on so small a piece of land that the Mayor says it's the most crowded city in the world.

We finally managed to get into the city where we met the "Acting" Mayor Yasir Jaidi. Only partially jokingly he told us that he was the deputy of the deputy of the deputy and had become mayor because after the election all the city officials had been arrested on suspicion of being "Hamas." (something that I have the feeling is likely true...)

Click here to listen to some of what "Acting" Mayor Yasir Jaidi (translated by our guide, Said), had to say about the situation in Qalqilia.

When we left to return to Jerusalem we had to walk through the crowded checkpoint which had all the sights and sounds of a border crossing. But then again that makes sense, since it's exactly what it is, as well as being the main and only gate to one of the big cells on the prison planet.

From Jayyus and Qaliqilia,
in the Occupied Territories
I'm Mike Thornton

We went today to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Golden Dome of the Rock is the 3rd holiest site in all of Islam behind Mecca and Medinah. It's said that Muhammed ascended into heaven from this place and that he trawled to the Al Aqsa Mosque upon his heavenly horse during the fabled night journey.

At one point in the beginning of Islam, Muslins prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, but Muhammed changed that upon receiving a message from Allah and thus began the prayers being made facing Mecca.

There are of course (as always seems to be the case) politics involved in the construction of the Dome.

The "Caliph" in Jerusalem apparently wanted to discourage his people from making the pilgrimage to Mecca since his rule was being challenged and he hoped that he could create a new center for the ritual "Hajj" thereby keeping his subjects from hearing negative things being said about him.

Sorry, nice try...

Non-Muslims are no longer allowed inside the Al Aqsa Mosque since former Israeli prime Minister and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon led a march to the place a few years ago causing outrage in the Palestinian and Muslim communities.

That type of provocation continues to this day if only on a smaller scale. Today I saw a family of Orthodox Jews walking through the Al Aqsa complex under police guard.

As appears to be so often the case Jewish Israelis can go nearly anywhere they want, while Palestinians cannot.

It seems that not only do the Israelis want to take over the land, but they also seem to feel the need to rub it in the face of the Palestinians at each and every turn.

We also went to Jericho today and met with the Governor who is also a member of the Palestinian Parliament. I'd like to tell you it was a fantastic and meaningful meeting, but it wasn't. The political leadership of both the Palestinians and Israelis leaves a lot to be desired.

Like our politicians at home they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and/or jockeying for power and position. The message I'm hearing from people in the street is that they want an end to this and the politicians aren't doing much to make that happen and it's doubtful that they ever will.

But I'll bring you something more hopeful in a little bit.

While in Jericho we saw the remains of perhaps the world's oldest city (some 10,000). The Mountain of Temptation where Jesus refused to submit to Satan and the Mountain ruins of Hishams Palace. The Palace is over 1200 years old and contains a fantastic mosaic.

We also made our way to the Dead Sea, those buildings in the distance of the lower right image are in Jordan. The sea is quite some way below sea level and so the weather was quite warm. The water is 27% salt and there are tons of minerals in it. Take my word for it when I tell you that it doesn't feel like any water you've ever touched and after a while you really feel it on your skin and you sure don't want to get it in your eyes!

Finally this evening we heard from two representatives of Bereaved families Supporting Reconciliation and Peace... an Israeli an a Palestinian... and they are the best hope for peace in this land where there is so little of it.

From Jerusalem
I'm Mike Thornton

We left the Dheisheh Palestinian refugee camp this morning to head out to the Negev Desert and learn about the problems facing the indigenous people of the area "The Bedouin".

We'll have more on that in a few minutes...

Some thoughts on the camp first though...

What I saw and experienced in addition to the obvious poverty and oppression that I expected to see, was angry (and damaged) young men and those young men are in leadership positions.

I think it's both a blessing and a curse.

Of course in a society where some 60% of the people are under 18 you'd expect to see lots of young folks and lots of young men and because of their numbers some of them would find themselves (whether they wanted to be or not) in positions of leadership.

And with everything that has happened and continues to happen in this shattered land including the fact that in many ways the older generation of Palestinian leadership has failed these young people, it's no wonder they are angry and frustrated.

Including being angry at and frustrated with the endless parade of foreign nationals that come to visit them in many cases like they are animals in a zoo.

The emotional and psychological damage that has been done to these people is deep and will take generations to heal if and when that healing ever actually begins.

And as I said before it's not just the Palestinians that are being destroyed by what's happening here!

Israeli society is suffering as well!

The other thing that struck me regarding the camp and at least some (but my guess is that it's most..) is that I think there is a real culture of victim-hood and that many of the "refugees" see themselves as exactly that "refugees." They have built their identities up around that and have created within themselves a sense of special status.

I'm not sure that many of these angry young men would know what to do with themselves if the situation ever really changed. If you know what I mean, then you know what I mean. If you don't, I think it would take to long to try an explain it.

As I said we made our way out to the Negev Desert today to see the situation faced by the Bedouin.

There are many "unrecognized" villages where these semi-nomadic people live today, however the pressures of modern society and Israeli law is forcing these people who have lived on these lands for thousands of years into smaller and smaller areas and from their semi-nomadic culture into "recognized" villages.

The other part of this story is that Israel is forcing these people into areas that are dominated by petrochemical and electrical plants as well as what is becoming the country's toxic waste dump.

In the US we call it environmental racism.

In The Negev they call it...

Environmental Racism too!

Here is a look at a couple of the petrochemical and electrical plants that the Bedouin live near.

We went to visit Hajj Ibrahim Abu Afash, the Sheik of the unrecognized Bedouin village known as "Wadi Na'am." Click here to listen to what he had to tell us as we met over Bedouin coffee and chai in the Sheik's meeting tent in the middle of the village (our guide "Said" translates).

In the Negev with the Bedouin
I'm Mike Thornton

On Friday we spent most of the day in the Bethlehem area of Palestine, primarily at the Dheisheh Refugee Camp.

According to Wikipedia:

Dheisheh is a Palestinian refugee camp located just south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Dheisheh occupies 1.5 square kilometers and is home to approximately 10,000 people. The camp was established as a temporary refuge for 3,400 Palestinians from 45 villages west of Jerusalem and Hebron who fled during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. ...

... Today there are nearly 12,451 inhabitants living in Dheisheh with a total number of 2,682 families. The number of shelters in Dheisheh camp is 2,480.

Click here for the rest of Wikipedia's article on the Dheisheh Camp.

In the Dheisheh Camp, Palestine
I'm Mike Thornton

Even though you won't see this until at least Friday since I'm staying at a family's home in Beit Sahour (near Bethlehem) tonight and they don't have an internet connection.

I'll still say that today I got angry. It's not difficult (at least for me) when you've heard and seen what I've heard and seen today.

On the way to Hebron this morning we stopped and talked with an Israeli "Settler" at one of the so-called "Illegal" settlements.

His name is Bruce Brill, an American Jew who immigrated to Israel nearly 30 years ago. "Bruce" is an affable guy, with a kind of "absent minded inventor" demeanor. Bruce likes to kinda talk in circles and has you spinning around, but for the most part you feel good about it all.

But every so often he drops something into the conversation that makes you go, "Huh?"

Things like what a great President George Bush is and of course singing the praises of Condi Rice as well. He tells us how he used to work for the US National Security Agency (NSA) and knew two days before the Israelis, that they were going to be attacked in the Yom Kippur war.

This leads to his admiration for Jonathan Pollard, another US "Intel" guy, who was convicted of spying for Israel. In Brill's mind being a Jew and taking care of Israel first is apparently more important than the oath the Pollard swore to the US.

But Bruce is an interesting guy and clearly very sharp. After we got through all the various discussions and him telling us more or less that "some of my best friends are Arabs" he shared with us his plan for ending the crisis. Click here for Mike's interview with Bruce Brill.

In essence Mr. Brill says they should tear down the Separation Wall and rebuild it in Iraq.

Iraq can be cut into thirds 1/3 Sunni, 1/3 Shia and 1/3 Kurd, then any Palestinian Arab that doesn't want to live here in Palestine can go live there happily ever after.

I asked Bruce if what he was really saying was that the Israeli's are here, they're going to continue to be here, build settlements and that Palestinians who didn't like it could just get the hell out.

Being a religious man he objected to my use of the word hell in mixed company, but he then said that indeed that was what he was saying.

Hebron is tense and all you have to do is look around and listen to know why.

First off it's the site of the Ibrahimi Mosque, were a couple of years ago a Jewish settler walked into the Mosque and opened fire with two machine guns killing 29 and wounding as many as 200.

An investigation was held and in the end the decision was made that the best way to deal with the crime was to wall off half of the Mosque and give it to the Israeli settlers to turn into a Synagogue.

While we were there a number of young girls were studying in the Mosque, but they really wanted their pictures taken instead saying "Sura? Sura? Sura?," which is Arabic for photograph.

Hebron is a divided city and once again checkpoints and soldiers are everywhere. We had to walk through two gates with metal detectors manned by Israelis on our way into the Mosque.

In Hebron there are 300 Jewish settlers, with 1500 soldiers to protect them and nearly half a million Palestinians live their lives based on the wants, needs, fears and abuse that the settlers aim at them on a daily basis.

Click here to listen to what a local Palestinian Teacher and Social worker has to say about the situation there.

I left Hebron today feeling angry and wondering how anyone could justify what I was seeing and hearing about as somehow or another being OK?

It's nearly midnight and there's another big day ahead for tomorrow.

In Beit Sahour "Occupied" Palestine
I'm Mike Thornton

I'll start out today by telling you I got "Conned" out of a few shekels today. I'll tell you how and where a little later...

We started out the day with a visit to West Jerusalem and the offices of "B'tselem"

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, where Ronen Shimoni, the Data Department Manager told us about how this Israeli organization works to document human rights abuses and then hold Israeli officials accountable for investigating and prosecuting these violations, which include everything from harassment to imprisonment and even to murder. He admits however to limited success in part because there is little motivation for the military or the police to investigate themselves or each other.

Once again we heard stories about how the "Separation Wall" (which you can see from miles away if you have the right view by the way) is impacting the lives of Palestinians and how the occupation is grinding them down and is a violation of International Law. B'tselem bases it's work on International Law and uses that framework to measure the violations that go on constantly nearly unabated.

I learned some things today that really caught my attention and I think they might interest you as well.

First, there are many Israelis that are against the occupation and are actively working against it! Something that isn't often reported in the US.

These people are often risking their freedom, their livelihoods and perhaps even their lives struggling against their own government and a majority of their own people to stand up for the rights and freedom of the Palestinians.

Perhaps there is much more debate regarding these issues in Israel then there is (or maybe even allowed...) in the United States. But here are some things that you might not know...

Construction on the Separation (or as it is sometimes called) the Suppression Wall has stopped.

Why?

Because the Israeli government says that it has run out of funding for it. This wall that was allegedly so critically needed to keep the people of Israel safe from "Terrorists" is sitting with huge gaps in it and at least for now it isn't going to be finished.

Ronen Shimoni saves that he believes the Israeli military has taken the money after complaining that the reason it failed in it's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon is that it was under funded and so now it needs the money and "The Wall" can wait.

Shimoni and others say that the occupation is destroying Israel as well. He works weekends as an EMT and tells us of the drug abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, cuts in education and social services that he sees taking place, not for Palestinians, but for Israelis!

We learned about government corruption, officials charged with stealing, misappropriation of funds, sexual harassment and even rape. And we learned of a public that is so overwhelmed that all it wants to do is shop and watch TV, while ignoring the occupation and it's other social ills.

Sound familiar?

Here's some of what Ronen Shimoni had to say.... click here to meet Ronen Shimoni, Data Department Manager of The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories about how this Israeli organization works to document human rights abuses and then hold Israeli officials accountable for investigating and prosecuting these violations.

Oh did I mention that the high school teachers have been on strike for three months?

One begins to think if this society is going down this fast, how much longer can it last!

I'm not an expert in Israeli history, but I have been studying it quite a bit lately and it seems that this society has moved very quickly from the principles on which it was founded.

We then went to the Old City of Jerusalem (and yes this is were I got conned!) We started out in the Muslim Quarter of this city that is holy to the three great monotheistic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

For Islam it is home to "The Dome of the Rock" where Muhammad ascended into heaven as well as the Al Aqsa Masjid.

Here's a picture of the Dome of the Rock

It is the site of the Via Dolorosa upon which Jesus carried the cross after being condemned to death leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built upon the site of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified.

Here is the alter built over the site of the crucifixion.

And last but not least the holiest site for followers of Judaism, The Western or Wailing Wall.

But even in the Holy City the occupation continues.

This is a picture of a Jewish settlement in the Muslim Quarter of the City

We also went to the Burg Al Luq Luq Social Center located in the Muslim Quarter and heard the story of how the center was nearly confiscated by the Israelis, but survived. The center now tries to provide facilities for the quarter's children to have a place to get educated and also get help with the damaging effects of the occupation and the disintegration of Palestinian society. The Burg Al Luq Luq Social Center remains under a demolition order as does at least one of the houses next door.

The Old City is home to perhaps 35,000 people which includes people living in near hiding because they don't have the appropriate identification papers to live there or to travel between various areas in the country and the occupied territories.

Here are a few of the pictures I took in the Old City of Jerusalem throughout the day...

Finally I went to the Wailing Wall...

I put on a Yamuka so I would be allowed to approach the Wall of the Old Temple. I was invited to come into an inner chamber by one of the Rabbis, told to take pictures and look at old manuscripts.

While there, I was informed that one of the Rabbis wanted to bless me and my family even though I wasn't a Jew. Before I knew it the Rabbi was praying for me and I thought, "Wow I'm at the holiest site in all Judaism and a Rabbi is praying for me!" This of course while the other one was telling me how great America was and that they just loved George Bush and Condoleezza Rice.

After it was all said and done the Rabbi's partner hit me up for cash! I gave them three and a half Shekels and walked away from the Wailing Wall saying "I know some professional street panhandlers and carnie workers that could take a few lessons from these guys!"

As comedian Will Durst says: "You can't make this S*#T up!!!

Tomorrow we're off to the West bank to visit Hebron and stay one night with some local families and then one night in one of the Palestinian refugee camps.

From Jerusalem and the Old City
(a few Shekels lighter)
I'm Mike Thornton

On Tuesday we spent the better part of the day in Ramallah and the surrounding area. This included a morning visit to the Palestinian Beir Zeit University.

As is usually the case we had to take a circuitous route to Beir Zeit and Ramallah because of the "Separation Wall" that runs like a giant grey snake winding it's way through Palestinian neighborhoods and at times blocking off what used to be the main road from on town to another.

It makes traveling difficult to say the least and one has to wonder why Palestinians are being separated from other Palestinians. Perhaps (I say "perhaps") you can find some justification for the barrier between Palestinian and Israeli neighborhoods, but like I said one has to wonder...

At the university we heard about the difficulties of educating young people under occupation. Particularly as it pertains to students not being able to travel from one area to another. There are even bigger problems and that's when students are arrested by Israeli authorities and can't attend classes.

In some cases these students (or anyone else for that matter) can be arrested and held under "administrative security " designations, without formal charges ever being filed and those detentions can be renewed every six months. We were told about one student who was held for a period of four years.

The school does what it can to support these students, but there's only so much anyone can do.

As I've said before, the more I learn about the situation here the more complicated it gets.

This year Beir Zeit University has banned political activity on campus, because it was causing too many problems among the students. These problems are not so much with the Israelis but among the various Palestinian political groups, the largest being "Fateh" and "Hamas".

We heard that everyone on campus knows who is affiliated with what group and that some of the students are being funded by these groups in order to be able to attend the university. So there are more than a few internal political contradictions when it comes to Palestinians and in the West bank and beyond that add to the complicated weave of the fabric here.

As I said we spent a good part of the day in Ramallah.

Ramallah is the political, economic and cultural center for the West Bank and many believe it will be the eventual capitol of a future Palestinian state. Though many hold out hope that Jerusalem (or part of it) will be the site, most people agree that is unlikely to happen.

We visited the tomb of Yassir Arfat the long time President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and head of the The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Here is a picture of the tomb and the mausoleum complex. (click for a larger image)

Ramallah is a bustling city of perhaps 200,000 people with more coming there all the time. It is what's known as a "Zone A Area" which means it's fully under the control of the "PA".

This is what downtown Ramallah looks like on a Tuesday afternoon.

Of course when you visit the big city you need to stop and hang out at the coffee shop. You may recognize this place.

That's right "Stars and Bucks"

But the most emotional part of the day came as we returned to East Jerusalem from Ramallah and had to walk through the "Qalandia Checkpoint"

Here is some what it looks like...

You can perhaps get a better idea of what the checkpoint feels like by picturing a combination of a prison and a bus station. One where you walk through sports stadium turnstiles and barbed wire fences. Your bags are X-Rayed and you must show your "papers" to a bored or angry or sarcastic soldier.

The checkpoint can be arbitrarily closed at any moment and you may be forced to wait for hours to get through. You could also be held for further questioning or perhaps even arrested and imprisoned.

The checkpoints can be a flashpoint for sudden danger and even death. And this doesn't only apply to Palestinians. On Monday at "Qalandia" an Israeli soldier was stabbed to death.

Click here for sounds of the checkpoint and my interview with a member of an organization that monitors the checkpoints for rules and rights violations as we were waiting to pass through Qalandia.

For KVMR-FM, Nevada City CA
In Palestine & Israel,
I'm Mike Thornton

We began the day meeting with Sulaiman of the Committee Against House Demolitions. There was much discussion of maps and lines, percentages and areas.

Sulaiman says that the Palestinians pay 40% of the taxes and get next to nothing when it comes to services. Though apparently when the Israeli government decides to demolish a Palestinian house the cost of that comes out of the taxes paid by the Palestinians.

He says; "There are basically two types of demolition orders, one from the municipality that clearly states the house will be demolished in 30 days and one from the court which gives no firm date. It could be in two days or not for 10 years."

Though he tells us that when the time does come "You have 15 minutes to get out!"

The justification comes from the fact that the houses are deemed "illegal" but according to Sulaiman the only titles to land that are recognized are the old Jordanian titles and building permits are incredibly expensive and purposefully hard to get (for Palestinians that is....)

Here is a a house that was demolished by the government despite the fact that there was a demolition "freeze" order in place at the time.

After the house was brought down (a house where a number of families lived) the court said "The officer who ordered the demolition "made a mistake".

But of course the premise according to the Committee Against House Demolitions is that all of this is being done to move Palestinians out so Israeli Jewish settlements can go in.

You can see the construction of the settlements or as they are called by the Israeli government "neighborhoods" going on everywhere and in those "neighborhoods" the streets are clean and in fact some of them have special roads and tunnels that only the settlers can use .

You can see a map of one of the proposed "neighborhoods" here as well.

One of them is Ma'ale Adumim and is literally a shining city on a hill.

Ma'ale Adumim is a city located east of Jerusalem in the West Bank, on the edge of the Judean desert. It is located within the boundaries of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, but has had its own mayor and municipality independent of the council's jurisdiction since achieving city status in 1991.
--Wikipedia Click here for more

It's told to us that this settlement or neighborhood depending on how you want to look at it will one day reach Jerusalem.

Palestine is a place where land and who possesses it rules supreme.

It's a land of checkpoints of which we were stopped at one today and had our passports checked by a young and surly soldier.

It's a land of identity cards and special passes, where you can go here but not there!

And the biggest stop sign is the "Separation Wall"

This is what it looks like "up close and personal."

There's a lot more to see and a lot more to tell and we'll be back with our next dispatch tomorrow.

In other news...

Click here to listen to what Bassam Aramin of Combatants for Peace has to say about why a non violent movement led by former Palestinian fighters and ex-Israeli soldiers is in his mind the best hope for peace in this land.

This coming from a man who spent seven years in an Israeli prison and not long ago saw his young daughter killed by Israeli soldiers while taking part in a non-violent protest.

For KVMR-FM, Nevada City CA
From East Jerusalem,
I’m Mike Thornton

It's been a cold and rainy day in the Arab section of the holy city on my first day in Israel. The streets like Sala ed Din and Nablus are nevertheless busy with shoppers. The now familiar evening call to prayer echos through the crowded and dirty avenues.

A police chase ensues and two cars one chasing the other barrel around the corner of the narrow street with sirens wailing and commands to pullover being shouted through the speaker system.

The people dress mostly in western style and the western products from big screen tv's to ninja turtles are everywhere. Though many if not most of the women continue to wear the hijab (headscarf), I saw one woman, however, in the full head to toe all black outfit that I had not seen since being in Aleppo Syria a couple of years ago.

As I walk down the streets alone most people pretend not to look, but every so often I catch the quick glances. Everyone I've actually talked to has been cordial if not friendly and I'm daring to try the little Arabic I know, which doesn't go far, but I think people appreciate it when you try.

Arabic music come out of the CD stores into the streets and I'll buy some after I get settled and bring it back with me. Just as I'm thinking about it a car drives by with American hip-hop blasting out of the windows and bump, bump, bumpin down the street.

Our Global Exchange group meets for the first time tonight after dinner and then we'll be getting started on this adventure come Monday morning.

The photos are of the Damascus Gate into the Old City of Jerusalem, the Bab al Dimashq. Notice the satelitte dishes in the upper right hand corner. I just thought it was interesting to see them juxtaposed against the ancient walls of the town that is at the center of the three great mono-theisms of Islam, Judeism and Christianity. Please click here for larger images.

For KVMR-FM, Nevada City CA
From East Jerusalem,
I’m Mike Thornton