Trading Our Biases for Peace in the Middle East

Today I posted on Amazon a review of a new book, actually an updated and enriched version of Whose Promised Land? by Colin Chapman.  I called it “the most complete, the most objective and the most practical” of my whole shelf-full of books on this subject. My review includes a brief summary of the book […]

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An Encounter with a Middle Eastern Immigrant

Several years ago I was in Burlington, N.C., and needed a place to spend a couple of hours while my daughter was in a meeting at Elon University. Someone recommended a little coffee shop on the main street past the campus. There was, they told me, a comfortable place to sit and read my book. […]

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A Middle Eastern Love Story

A Middle Eastern Love Story By Martin Accad Director of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Lebanon   Maryam was born a Muslim. Her society required her to live as a Muslim and eventually to die as a Muslim as well. Youssef was born a Christian. His society too required him to live and die […]

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Looking Into the Faces of These Soldiers

(My friend Jan Therien traveled to Israel and the occupied West Bank late last year.  It was her first visit ever to any part of the Middle East.  Before she left, I asked her to take notes and be prepared to write her impressions for my website.  Below is her first contribution.  FF) East Jerusalem. […]

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Wanted: Stories about Middle Easterners!

  My last blog promised that on January 4 I would tell you about my plan for “carrying on”  my effort to be a positive influence in this violent world.  And here it is. This is an invitation to you, a regular or occasional reader of my blog.  I want to encourage you to write […]

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Broken Bodies, Broken Hearts, Blessings, Plans

2015 is gone!  I am tempted to say, Praise God, al hamdulilla, good riddance. In 2015 my husband was sick, I was exhausted and stressed and trying to keep appointments, when I discovered I was not superwoman and got hauled off to the ER myself. A few months later, expecting to return home the next […]

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Franklin Graham and a Syrian Teenager

  The last time I was in Damascus I bought an inexpensive piece of local art from the artist himself at his little shop in the covered suq (market).  Afterwards, feeling very happy with my purchase, I strolled on up the narrow, sheltered street, enjoying the colorful store windows and being part of the noisy, […]

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