One of my favorite days of the month was going to Costco and buying a large bag of frozen fruits -- the ones you get for ten bucks, a bag of bananas for a dollar fifty, a case of Tropicana orange juice for eleven bucks, and frozen yogurt for five...

I am now on my seventh week of what was to be a four week visit to Gaza. Getting in wasn't easy, but getting out has been nothing short of impossible. I have been trying to leave Gaza for more than three weeks and have yet to succeed in doing...

For the past three weeks, I have been visiting my family in the northern Gaza Strip. I was shocked and devastated by the de-development of the Gaza Strip. It was even worse than I imagined. Destruction and destitution are rampant. Combine that with sky high unemployment rates and limited or...

For the past three years, my hometown in the Gaza Strip has been struggling with an international siege that limits movement and controls the flow of humanitarian aid. In deprived Gaza, the dreams of a million and a half residents on the narrow strip of land are shattered. The situation...

News of Western diplomats walking out during a speech made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, in protest over his criticism of the State of Israel and its Zionist culture made me pause. A day before the conference convened, the newly elected Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that...

Recent elections in Israel that resulted the victory of the Israeli right wing; the high death toll of civilians during the Israeli assault on Gaza, and the admission by Israeli soldiers that they viewed Gaza as a "shooting gallery" and randomly shot innocent civilians unconcerned about the consequences; the surge...

News of possibly easing the embargo on Cuba and lifting travel restrictions to Cuba are circulating. With a new U.S. administration in charge and a promise to change past and outdated US foreign policies, one group in particular has become worried. The conservative Cuban-American political leadership is unhappy about this...

A day after Israel ended its assault in Gaza Strip, my family (like countless other civilians) finally returned to the ruined remnants of their former lives and homes. The homes they left behind are now nothing more than bits and pieces of rubble. The houses and apartment buildings were abandoned...

Being from Gaza these days is a burden. Everyone who knows me is asking about my family. And all I can answer is how they were four days ago when I could reach them last. They have no electricity now, and I can only hope they are alright.

I can...