first ever post

Well, this is the first, and I am sure it will not be the last time I have an outburst on the keys! I do feel like a rant and so here we go. It has been quite a day, a call in the morning from a close relative relaying the horrors of her life set the tone for a frustrating day battling with technology, new email accounts (gmail were a right pain), booking ferries to the lovely northern ireland, and then chatting to a friend in London about an ethical dilema that I have for an hour!

Basically I am going back to the near east 17 days and I still have not booked a flight! I have been holding off as I found a really cheap flight from London oon the 6th Nov to Tel Aviv, but flying with El Al. For those of you who might not know, EL AL is the equivolent for BA for us, the state airline, which is helped in funding by the the State. Now my issue here is, do I fly with the airline and therefore in a way back the regime, or do I make a clare decision to fly via Amman, and cross into OT (Occupied Territories) towards Jericho.

In the end I think that this is what I shall do, even though it will be more expensive, because I would like for this route to be used more by people wanting to visit Jericho or Bethlehem. If more tourists/pilgrims use this route they will see how Palestinians - Christian and Muslim are treated at this border crossing- when I was there in the summer (8 hrs in all, so I have many stories about this border crossing) 4 families with small children were denied entry to the West Bank- crying and hungry the children and paretns were told to come back tomorrow and try again. I do not know the specific reasons for each of the refusals, but I can tell you, this happens often and for poor reasons, and often just to make a point, or grind moral.

So, yes, I will book a flight soon, and then I will be off.

A good thing about today however is that I received information about the project that I am going to work on from 10-24th Nov in Bethlehem. For those who would like to read what I will be doing, email me directly and I will forward the brief.

So, you will hear from me again soon and many thanks to the beautiful Anna Haywood for enabling this new phase of communication. It would never of happened without her, she also choose the name of the blogg, which is growing on me. Thanks to Phil Togwell who has lovingly nagged me to write for AGES---look Phil its happening!


I have a feeling that this could become an addiction...........