writer, editor
I once asked my father, who was deaf, which faculty he would rather lose, and he said sight. Shocked by the notion of not seeing, I asked why. He said that not hearing is isolating, that he couldn't join in conversations, that he was left out. Maybe he didn't use the word isolating. About a… Continue reading Voices
Well, you wouldn't read it if I called it Resistance and the Industry Codes. First, the resistance. By this I don't mean anything worthwhile, like resisting oil pipelines or industrial water extraction. I am, or so I say, working on a difficult story, and I would do anything other than write it. The word for… Continue reading Resistance and the Bunny
You might be wondering about the cave that the Nassar family once made home. Let me explain. The underground dwelling is warm and dry in the rainy winter, and cool in the scorching summer. Caves are not unusual in this land of hills carved by dry winds. Unlike European caves, these caves don't drip moisture… Continue reading Caves
I am presenting some photos from a recent outing to a hilltop near Bethlehem, the Nassar farm near the Palestinian village of Nahalin in Area C (Israel controlled) of the West Bank. While I talked to the farm family about their Tent of Nations project and the threats to their land and livelihood since 1991,… Continue reading Montage: Tent of Nations
The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity sits above the Bow River and the town of Banff. Started in the 1930s as a project to give people in the arts some paid work, it is now a lively institution that houses retreats, workshops, concerts, a library, theatres and art galleries. I am here for the… Continue reading Banff Centre
The summer in East Jerusalem is hot and dry. Windows left open, surfaces in the apartment are coated in dust. Yet as I slowly go about daily activities, I see these little beauties blooming. For me they are like bits of joy caught in one's peripheral vision. And just as I am illiterate in this… Continue reading Improbable
This Is Not an Ulpan, based in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, offers Hebrew and Arabic lessons of a different sort than I've experienced. The classroom lessons are thematic and sometimes take place as excursions -- you go to a cafe to speak the language of cafes. They are committed to engaging with our surroundings. For example,… Continue reading Hebrew Words for Gaza
